And Their Companion Was The Grave
by ThatOnePsycho
Summary: Ruby Rose, Huntress, Friend, Highlord (or was it Highlady? She never did bother to ask Darion after he shoved her into the job) of the Knights of the Ebon Blade. Death Knight!Ruby.
1. Chapter 1

Ruby Rose, second Highlord (Highlady? She had never bothered to figure out what her title was) of the Knights of the Ebon Blade, sighed as she looked down upon the force of former Scourge. It wasn't the thousand they had started with, some had managed to die and a few (very lucky) member had actually managed to make peace with their undeath and settle down. But it was a respectable force still numbering over nine hundred, they were after all one of the most dangerous forces on Azeroth, and had been raised _because_ they were more dangerous than most, they did not die (again) easily. That in-fact was part of the problem she was facing, Azeroth had finally managed to enter a time of peace, one that looked like it would actually last for a while, and the Knights were growing restless, not used to not having nothing more than bandits to fight. The solution had come from the strangest place, the Titan Azeroth itself had offered to open a portal back to Ruby's home world of Remnant. (If Ruby was honest the being probably would have offered just about anything if it meant getting them away from it, the Being had made it clear that they did _not_ like undead.)

It was an offer that Ruby could see no obvious downside to, she was allowed to go back home and see her family for the first time since she landed here just before the Scourging of Lordaeron (and her death, and subsequent revival, at the hands of Arthas). The Grimm would also give a constant supply of enemies for the Knights to fight. Her silver eyes (and no one, not even Arthas, knew why they had not changed color when he raised her) shifted to the side where Darion Mograine, her predecessor and best friend (or at least the closest thing she had to one), stood. He too had agreed that it had sounded perfect (almost too perfect) but had wanted to bring it up to the other Knights, if for no other reason than to give them the option to leave and stay on Azeroth.

Which lead her back to her current predicament, addressing the matter before the crowd gathered there below. Twenty years had not made Ruby Rose any more socially adapted than she was when when was fifteen, if anything she was worse at it than when she was back then, because while she refused to break and hate the world like Sylvanas had before the end,(because that meant The Lich King had managed some form of victory from beyond the grave and she would be _DAMNED_ before she gave him that) she was certainly bitter.

She turned back towards Darion, "It's times like this I hate you for putting me in charge, you know that right?"

He looked over to her a slight grin on his face, he had lightened up considerably since she had taken charge, sometimes she took as a sign that it wasn't impossible for things to get better. "What's wrong is the 'Pale Horsewoman' scared of talking to people?"

She threw a glare his way, "Don't call me that."

 _Pale Horsewoman_ , the name that she had been given by Arthas when he first raised her, a reference to an old text speaking about death, with her being naturally pale and her horse (Despair, also named by Arthas, who always had a flair for the dramatic) being a pale green from rot, he had apparently found the name too fitting to pass up. Let it never be said that Arthas didn't have a sense of humor. _She hated the title_ which is probably why Arthas, Alexandros and, later, Darion refused to let it die.

She gripped onto the shaft of Crescent Rose, (not Frost Crescent, Mourning Rose, or any other of the shitty names her subordinates had attempted to dub it since she had reforged it with the fragments of Frostmourne and Shadowmourne) raised it up, and fired it into the air, getting everyone's attention.

"Alright, you all know me and my dislike for public speaking, so I'll make this short. We have the opportunity to go to a new planet, one where we will have nigh limitless enemies to fight, we called you here today so you can decide if you will go or not, we'll reconvene tomorrow, if you're here I'm assuming you're going."

She turned on her heel and swept out of the room, Darion followed, snickering.

X LINE BREAK X

Lam'Guld, shouldered his way through the crowd, which had exploded into chattering groups the moment Highlord Rose had left the room, and who could blame them? She gathered them all here, dropped this bomb, told them they had a day to decide, and then walked out before they could ask any questions! He swore there were days where he thought that Windrunner had been more social than Rose.

' _Now where is she'_ ,he thought eyes raking across the room as he looked for-

"Looking for me, dear?"

-Ilyanaria. He turned around to come face to face with his wife, or perhaps more accurately face to his wife's chin. As he took her in again he couldn't help but think that at least one good thing had come from the Lich King's madness.

"- should do?"

He snapped out of his reflection, as he realized that she was asking him something. "Sorry what was that?"

She sighed "I asked what you think we should do about this offer."

Oh, of course, he wasn't sure why he thought it would be about anything else. If Lam'Guld was honest he knew what he would choose in a heartbeat, but…

"What do you think?"

… He knew Ilyanaria would never agree.

"I think we should go."

…What?

"I mean, we might actually be able to find a place where we won't be judged for our state of being, and settle down!"

… And there was the catch, to this day Lam'Guld still wasn't sure how someone so good at fighting, could be so averse to it. Maybe it had something to do with her previous training as a Druid? He had heard Rose grumble in passing about Malfurion being much the same way. He knew that the Orcish Shamans weren't the same, and he had never spoken to a Taurin or Troll Druid.

"Yes, that sounds wonderful."

It didn't matter either way, there was a new world out there, and it might have something to make them both happy.

X LINE BREAK X

Velann snorted as she pushed of the wall and started to move towards the forges. Did Ruby actually think anyone would stay behind? She glanced around the area and could already see the other members of R&D rushing towards their stations, they all had the same idea, if they were moving out soon it would be best to have all their gear tied down, along with any projects they intended to continue working on. She watched as Zaxmaz snapped at Setraa for grabbing one of his tools. _'Yep, gonna be chaos for the next few hours_.'

Rather than rush over to her station and make sure she was ready, she headed for the back of the room, ducking her head under the curtain that divided the Old Man's section from everyone else's. She strode forward and sat at the table waiting. Even among the Knights of the Ebon Blade, Pitwick was considered slow. She had been waiting for a good ten minutes (had turned the kettle on, even) when he finally walked into the room. To be fair to him, Old Man was a nickname, that while accurate, said more about how impressive he was than anything else. He had been nearing his expiration date twenty years ago (which is why he had gone to Lordaeron, rather than helped with the invasion on the homefront) and still managed to wreck so much havoc that Arthas raised him as one of his Death Knights. He also had the distinction of being right behind Ruby herself as the longest serving Death Knight, having been beaten to the title by about thirty-eight hours.

"Hello, Velann."

She sat there for a few seconds waiting, "You're not going to ask me why I'm here?"

"I know why you're here. You want to know if I intend to go, seeing as I'm on good terms with my family."

She wasn't sure why she was so surprised that he knew, the Old Man was as intuitive as Ruby was insane (though Velann would never admit that belief to her face), then again he was also insane…

"So? What's your plan?"

"Of course I intend to go! Just imagine all the engineering techniques that might be there! Especially if, as I suspect, this 'new world' is Remnant! You remember when we worked on Crescent Rose, it was a technological marvel! An entire world of engineering like that would keep me busy until the spells Arthas placed on us gave out and I rotted away!"

"Why do you do that?"

He blinked, "Do what?"

"Call him Arthas."

It had always been something that bugged her. She was used to thinking as the man who damned her to unlife as The Lich King, and she knew many of the other Knights felt the same, but the oldest Death Knights (from date of raising) almost exclusively referred to him as Arthas. Pitwick, Ruby and Darmus, the three oldest, and only members of the Ebon Blade that where from the Scourging, never referred to him as anything else unless they were angry.

"I suppose it's in remembrance of who he once was, rather than what he had become."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Arthas was in the beginning, a noble man, maybe that was the problem. He was too noble, he couldn't stand to see people in pain, so when the Plague hit Lordaeron, he set off looking for a cure. The rest as they say, is history."

"So you remember that part of his life, instead of what he did after?"

"We still remember it, we just don't let it cloud our memories of what he used to be like."

"I don't get it."

He looked up, a sad smile on his face, "And I pray you never do, child."

X Line BREAK X

Ruby stared at the warglaive she held in her hand, it was the one Illidan had given her, just before he slammed shut the Legion's portals to Azeroth for good… with him on the other side.

It was times like those that Ruby honestly wondered if she was cursed, seeing as everyone she cared about seemed to die, go insane, or both. If she was cursed she severely hoped leaving Azeroth would release it. She didn't want to lose Team RWBY, Qrow and her father after she just regained them… that or she just had a really bad taste in friends and lovers, Velann would swear it was the latter.

"Brooding again?" Her head snapped up to look at Darmus, standing in the doorway.

"Yeah."

"What about?"

She rolled her eyes, "Why do you care?"

"Because, despite what you seem to be convinced, you do have friends here."

She turned the warglaive over, the Rune of the Fallen Crusader glowing softly, "Do you think we could have saved more people? If we had been less passive? Taken a more decisive approach?"

"What brought this up?"

"I was thinking about everyone who died, and I remembered Koltira. We should have realized that something was wrong when he hadn't reported back after a month. If we hadn't waited, gone right to Sylvanas and demanded to know where he was, he might still be here."

"You know she would have lied."

"Then before that, we knew the type of man Garrosh was. We should of crushed him the minute Thrall put him in charge, instead of waiting for Vol'jin to start his rebellion."

Darmus sighed (and wasn't that something everyone had been doing a lot today?) and walked forward taking the blade from Ruby's hands and placing it on the table before taking her hands.

"I've told you Ruby, and I know Pitwick, Mograine and Velann have all told you it at different times, what happened to Koltira isn't your fault," his eyes searched her face, "when was the last time you slept?"

She smiled slightly, "Death Knight don't need sleep, you know that."

"But it doesn't stop us from enjoying it. We have another twenty hours before you need to be the head of the Ebon Blade again, take a nap."

"I can't, I need to make plans for when we get there. A floating Necropolis appearing out of nowhere will raise a lot of questions, we'll need to come up with a cover story, and be ready for negotiations with the Kingdoms. Pitwick will want to experiment with Dust, we'll need metals for the forges, clothes for when we go into the cities-"

"Ruby, just rest. Pitwick, Mograine, and I can deal with this, we're not completely useless."

"I never said you were!"

"Then let us take care of it, the world won't end because you took a few hours off."

"...Fine"

Ruby picked up the glaive (she would have to remember to name it) and placed it in the sheath she had added onto Crescent Rose's holster, before walking to her bed and laying down.

"Good night, Ruby." Darmus turned and walked to the door.

"Darmus?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks. For everything"

"You're welcome, Ruby."

And with that, Ruby Rose closed her eyes and slept for the first time in a month.

X LINE BREAK X

Darmus swept through the halls of Acherus heading towards the command center, where he knew Mograine would be. He stuck out his arm as a female Night Elf came down the hall.

"Knight-Champion Redbrand!" She exclaimed.

He gave her a small smile, "Might I ask, if you are not too busy, for you to run down to the forges and tell Knight-Captain Blackneedle that I need to see him in the War Room immediately? It's quite important."

"Of course, Sir!" and then she was gone.

' _I wonder how long it will take for her to realize that the forges are the other way?'_

About ten minutes later, he had made it to the War Room.

"Mograine, we need to talk."

He looked up, "About what?"

"Ruby's sleeping, she wants you, me and Pitwick to make the necessary preparations for this journey of ours." Mograine grimaced, "what is it?"

"Pitwick? Really, she's trusting Pitwick with this?"

"Yes, she is, seeing as he's head of our forges and that means that he'll know what we need once we get to Remnant."

"It's nice to see that _someone_ respects how difficult my job is," They both whipped around, to see Pitwick walk into the room, "unlike our previous leader."

"The supplies you were asking for were insane!"

"Do you think keeping a thousand warriors well equipped was cheap?"

" _Before_ you two get into another argument about this subject, could we please discuss the matter at hand," sometimes he felt like he was the closest thing to a stabilizing (sane) force in the upper management of the Ebon Blade, he turned towards Mograine, "I take it that Ruby has already discussed her plan with you?"

"Yes, but it should be noted that we're running on information that is nearly twenty years old at this point."

"Ain't that comforting." Muttered Pitwick under his breath, Darmus shot him a glare.

"Old information is better than no information, continue."

"Right, Remnant has four Kingdoms, Vale, Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo. We will be transported in approximately six hours away from Vale, from there, Ruby, myself and two other Human Knights will ride to Vale before boarding an Airship to reach Beacon Academy, where Ruby formerly studied, and attempt to make contact with Ambroise Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon. To avoid appearing threatening we will not be going in full armor but rather in outfits meant to emulate what Hunters wear," here he turned to Pitwick" those would be the outfits we asked you to have done by tomorrow."

"They're already finished, though I will admit, I don't see the practicality of the outfit for Ruby."

Mograine shrugged, "Apparently that's what she used to wear, she figured it would be easier to get the meeting if she looked as she used too."

"Makes sense."

"Anyways, from there we will try to negotiate for an area for Acherus to stay, along with supplies and the location of Ruby's friends and family."

Darmus nodded, "That sounds simple enough."

"Which means it's gonna blow up in our faces."

"Pitwick!"

"What? It's true! When was the last time any 'simple plan' went well for us?"

"I hate to agree with him, but he's right, 'a simple plan' never ends well for us."

X LINE BREAK X

Ruby looked down at the Ebon Blade forces again, not a single one had left.

"Alright, Azeroth should be here any minute now and we can-"

 _ **DID SOMEBODY CALL UPON ME?**_

Appearing on the Balcony next to her, Azeroth stared, or at least she thought it did, it had no eyes, and it's form was constantly changing, one moment a Worgan, the next a Troll, Male, Female, Young, Old.

"Yes, we're ready to go."

It's head (currently in the form of a Dragon) turned and looked at the gathered undead.

 _ **VERY WELL.**_

As everything faded into white it shifted forms one last time (a Human with blond hair and blue eyes) and leaned towards her ear. Ruby felt as if something that was previously broken snapped into place,

 _ **AND NOW OUR DEBT IS PAID, WE HAVE GIVEN YOU ANOTHER CHANCE, IT IS UP TO YOU TO TAKE HOLD OF IT, RUBY ROSE, WARRIOR-MAIDEN OF SILVER EYES**_. she opened her mouth and screamed

And then there was silence.

X LINE BREAK X

The last eight days had probably been the most stressful of Yang Xiao-Long's life, first her partner had run off, and then after they found her, her little sister had disappeared, leaving no trace of where she had gone. It was the weekend currently, and she was gearing up for (another) day of searching for Ruby in Vale, walking towards the lockup where she kept Bumblebee, when she caught sight of a group of four, two of them were wearing suits of armor over hoodies (it reminded her of what Jaune wore) the third man though, _'he looks like he could break dad in two!'_

The third man, towered over his companions, and the sleeveless turtle-neck he was wearing made it obvious that the pair of massive blades on his back was _not_ for show.

As Yang's eyes moved to the final member though, she tensed, black skirt, black corset and black blouse, all with red trimmings, and a red cloak.

She cleared the hundred yards between them in less than ten seconds, pulled down the hood-

"Yang?"

"Ruby?" -and met the glowing eyes of her little sister.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ruby where have you been? We've been looking for you for six days!"

Ruby let out a hiss of air. It was not a pretty sound, like someone drawing a sword across metal, "It's been six days?" Her voice echoed with an undertaste of metal.

Yang was terrified, "You… don't know how long it's been?"

"I've been really busy."

"Busy, right," her eyes turned to look at her sister's 'companions' only to notice that two of them (the ones in hoodies) had disappeared, leaving the big guy behind, "And who is he?"

Ruby glanced behind her (or at least Yang thought she did, it was kind of hard to tell when [I]her entire eye was glowing silver[/I])

"He's Darion Mograine, he's… a friend."

… a friend [I]right.[/I]

"Right then, [I]Mr. Mograine,[/I] it was nice meeting you, but me and Ruby need to get back up to Beacon."

"That's fine, I need to go there as well."

Of course he did, and he had the creepy metal echo in his voice too.

As she turned around and marched back to the airship, she pulled out her scroll and sent Blake and Weiss a text.

[I]found ruby, with creepy guy, coming to beacon, get oz and goodwitch[/I]

She glanced back, to make sure they hadn't run off and to her surprise [I]Mograine[/I] appeared to making sure Ruby didn't run, with a hand clasped around her bicep.

Once they were on the airship (it would take at least twenty minutes to get to Beacon) Yang decided to break the awkward silence.

"Sooooooo, Mr. Mograine-

"Just Mograine please."

… Ok then, "Mograine, how do you know Ruby?"

"A mutual acquaintance introduced us."

Yang was quickly becoming convinced that rocks were better conversation partners than this guy, "Do I know him?"

"Probably not."

She could feel her eye start to twitch, Ruby meanwhile had pulled out a bottle of water.

"What's his name?"

"Arthas Menethil."

Finally an actual answer! "Can I meet him?"

"No," Never mind.

"Why not?"

"He's dead."

Oh, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Apparently, that was the funniest joke either had heard in awhile. Mograine, who had frown lines, cracked a smile and Ruby snorted, spraying water all over Mograine who, to his credit, didn't even flinch.

Yang looked between the two, befuddled, 'What's so funny?"

"I said he was a mutual acquaintance, I never said we liked him."

Ruby muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "literally soulless" under her breath.

"Right… So where have you been?"

"Me and Darion were helping some friends. I'm really sorry about not telling anyone, but I got the call in the middle of the night and had to rush out. After that I lost track of time and forgot to call."

"Do I know [I]any[/I] of these 'friends'?"

Ruby turned her head to the side and grumbled out something, Yang didn't need to hear what it was to know the answer to her question. She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, reminding herself it wouldn't do any good to burst into flames in the middle of an enclosed airship.

"Ruby, what the [I]hell[/I] is going on?"

"Yang this isn't-"

"No, I mean, you sneak off in the middle of the night, and reappear hanging out with someone that looks like an escaped Atlesian super-soldier project. You both have these glowing eyes and this weird echo everytime you talk and you're refusing to tell me what's going-"

Yang was cut of when Ruby pulled her into a bone breaking hug, "I know, and I promise to explain everything, but I need to talk to Ozpin first. It's really complicated."

"It's nothing bad, right?"

Ruby hesitated, "It's complicated, some parts are bad, others are good."

"You're not in any trouble, right?"

"No, everything's fine now, we just needed to clean up some loose ends."

"That makes it sound like you murdered someone, Rubes."

"Like I said, it's really complicated. I promise to explain once I'm done talking with Ozpin."

Ruby paused before tightening her hold on Yang, "I love you, you know that right?"

"Rubes… Ribs…"

"Sorry!" Ruby leapt backwards, allowing Yang to breathe.

"So that's what that feels like."

Darion followed behind the sisters, glad to see that Ruby had managed to rebound so quickly. While she may have managed to get him to open up around her 'inner circle', he still preferred to avoid talking to people outside the Ebon Blade if he didn't have to. Family of friends or not.

As he watched Yang attempt to tease Ruby, he couldn't help but think back to a farmhouse, of another blond older sibling teasing their sibling, of a boy training out back with his father. Everything had been easier back then, Renault wasn't (as much of) an unrepentant asshole.

The airship docked then, snapping him out of his memories, and he trailed behind Ruby and Yang as they walked out.

He scanned the area on instinct and tensed, glancing over at Ruby. He saw that she had done the same. Standing around the area were several adults, each with their eyes locked on the three of them. Standing to the side was a rotund man clutching an ax, opposite him was a skinny man with green hair and a club. A woman with pink hair stood on the platform adjacent to them, a gun with a massive blade on the end followed them -no followed [I]him[/I]- as they moved, and waiting for them at the end of the path was a grey haired man holding a walking stick and a cup, standing beside him was a blond haired woman holding a riding crop.

Darion strode forward, and leaned towards Ruby's ear, "You see that, right?"

"Of course I do, Darion, I'm not blind."

"Then what do we do?"

"We continue walking towards Ozpin, and then try to start negotiations."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"We fight our way out." With that she marched towards the man with the cane. (who must have been Ozpin.)

"Hello Miss Rose," Ozpin turned towards Darion, "and friend."

Darion stood up straighter, "Darion Mograine, Sir." It would not to do well to irritate the man they were hoping to convince to help them.

"A pleasure. Tell me Miss Rose, where have you been? You gave your teammates quite the fright."

Ruby coughed, he could see the blonde women flinch out of the corner of his eye, just slightly. He didn't blame her, Death Knights sounded strange enough just talking, anything more than that sounded like someone smashing swords together.

"Actually Professor, we would like to talk to you about that in private."

Ozpin took a swig from his drink, "Very well," with that he started walking back towards the building.

Darion fell in line with Ruby, "That was surprisingly easy."

"That, wasn't the hard part."

"Then what is?"

"Convincing him to work with us."

As Ruby stepped out of the elevator she breathed deeply, '[I]Let's hope this works.[/I]'

"So, tell me Miss Rose, why exactly did you and Mr. Mograine wish to speak with me in private?"

The plan was as simple as it was idiotic, but they really didn't have anything better.

"Have you ever heard of a man named Arthas Menethil?"

"No, I can't say I have, why?"

"Arthas had a Semblance that allowed him to trap the souls of the people he killed within his sword, Frostmourne, and raise them from the dead."

"I see, and what, may I ask does this have to do with you disappearing?"

"Arthas killed me years ago.([I]True[/I]) Me, and the organization I run, The Knights of the Ebon Blade, used to be Arthas' most dangerous servants, but we discovered that people with ample will power could steal back their souls and free themselves a few years ago.([I]technically true[/I]) I had to leave because we had located Arthas and wanted to stop him before he could initiate his plan to take over Remnant.([I]false[/I])"

"I see, and I take it that your appearance has something to do with this?"

"Yes, without Arthas, we can't hide like we had previously."

"And, why have you come to me about this?"

Here Ruby stood up straighter, slipping into 'Horsewoman's Mantle' "As Highlord ([I]screw it, she was using Highlord[/I]) of the Knights of the Ebon Blade, I would like to offer an alliance between the Hunters and us. We have 978 Knights, and we can offer-"

"Very well."

What.

She shared a glance with Darion who had been following her silently.

"I was kind of expecting to have to convince you."

"I can tell from looking at you, that you are both experienced soldiers, I just have two questions for you."

"Yes?"

"First off, do you need a place to stay?"

"No, we have a fortress call Arcturus we're using, though we would not be opposed to being allowed to use the land around it."

"I'll see what I can do. Second, what do you intend to do about your schooling?"

"I… I don't know, I have an organization to lead. I'm not the Ruby Rose that team RWBY thinks I am anymore."

"I would like you to continue your education here, so how about a deal?"

"What?"

"You will not be required to attend combat instruction. Instead being allowed to use that time to manage the affairs of this 'Ebon Blade', in return you will help mentor Teams RWBY and JNPR."

Ruby blinked, "That sounds, more than fair."

"Well then, is there anything else I should know?"

"Uh, yeah, some members of the Ebon Blade have had mutations due to Arthas raising them."

"I see, would you like to keep a team of your Knights on campus?"

"Yeah, if you're willing, I'd need a bit of time to plan who I wanted with me."

"That is acceptable."

"Can we work on the exact specifications of the deal later? I need to talk to teams RWBY and JNPR, especially if I'm going to be mentoring them."

"Yes, have a good day Miss Rose."

As they rode down the elevator, Ruby turned to Darion, "I need you to ride to Acherus and send Darmus over here. Tell him to bring my armor."

"Ruby, are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

As she walked towards the dorms, she sighed, '[I]time to face the music[/I]'

Blake Belladonna looked around the room where all of Team JNPR and most of Team RWBY were sitting, waiting for Ruby to get done with Ozpin.

"So, you're sure you've never seen this 'Mograine' person before?"

"For the hundredth time Weiss, I've never seen the guy before!"

The door opened then, letting in Ruby, who walked over to an open chair and just seemed to collapse.

"Alright let's get this over with, what do you want to know?" Blake recoiled slightly, the metallic echo sounding particularly strange to her Faunus hearing.

"How about everything?"

"It's a long story."

"We have plenty of time."

Ruby started talking then, she spoke about how she met a man named Arthas, a once noble man and then she told them of how he had slowly gone insane and slaughtered a village. Then she told of their confrontation, how she tried to pull him back from the abyss, and how, when that didn't work, she drew Crescent Rose and attempted to stop him. She spoke of how he raised her into what she was now, how she had been forced to serve him, how she worked alongside Darion's father, Alexandros, until Darion sacrificed himself to free his father and took his place.

Blake looked around the room again. Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora all looked dumbfounded. Ren looked like he was attempting to keep calm. Weiss looked horrified, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. Yang had started to pace around the same time Ruby started to talk about what she had done under Arthas' command, eyes blazing red.

Ruby told them that a group of Death Knights had managed to break free from Arthas's control, and they had been working to hunt him down ever since. Then she started to talk about what she had been doing for the last six days, she spoke of how the Knights had gathered alongside someone named Illidan, and how they had finally found Arthas, going under the title of Lich King. She spoke of how Illidan had stayed behind to hold of a force of the Lich King's servents Blake could tell that something about that hurt her, but she didn't draw attention to it.

She spoke of the final battle, where they confronted Arthas and she personally fought him. She told the story of how Crescent Rose was shattered by Arthas's blade, just before Frostmourne itself had been shattered. She told them the significance of this action, how it freed the souls of all trapped by Arthas' Semblance and then of how Arthas had died. Then she told them of how she reforged Crescent Rose from shards of Frostmourne and an axe meant to be it's counterpart. Finally she told them of the deal with Ozpin.

It had been a little before ten when Ruby started her story and by the time it finished the it was well past noon. The minute Ruby finished her story, Yang walked over, pulled her out of her chair and into a hug, "Why didn't you ever tell me, or dad, or Uncle Qrow?"

"I didn't want to lose you."

Blake glanced at team JNPR and gestured towards the door, this was something Team RWBY had to deal with themselves.

[I]The small force was ready, they would be going into the Twisted Nether in an attempt to permanently lock it off from Azeroth.

Ruby looked around. Thrall was off to the side, talking with Jaina. Crowley was speaking with Malfurion. Next to her was Illidan, "I have a bad feeling about this."

"I would hope you do, We're about to sneak into hell."

"Ass."

"You know you love it."

She rolled her eyes, checking the pocket watch Glenn had given her, "Alright, people, one minute till we do the dumbest thing any of us have ever done."

They gathered around and waited for the two warlocks to open up the portal. Once it did open, they entered into the Nether, "Right assuming this information is correct the demons that are creating these portals, should be about half a klick to the east, so let's get moving."

As they traveled across the desolate landscape of Nether they all stayed silent too stressed to make any form of conversation.

They had actually managed to reach the fortress before things went to hell, a horde of demons had been following them and decided that was the opportune time to attack them.

"RUN!"

They all ran to the doors of the fortress, Ruby used her semblance to get there first and slammed the door open, holding it open as they caught up. Crowley, Illidan, Malfurion, Thrall, Jai- wait where was Jaina?

Jaina, was about twenty yards away, releasing spells as fast as she could 'of course Jaina couldn't move as fast as everyone else, she isn't a warrior and she can't transform.'

"JAINA, COME ON!"

The horde had surrounded her now, and some of them were heading towards the fortress. There were too many, for each one that shattered into ice three more were there to take their place. By sheer strength of numbers some were getting through, Jaina turned and mouthed out a word. Tragically she was cut short by a claw tearing through her side, Ruby stifled a sob.

She was vaguely aware of Thrall yelling something, of Malfurion tackling him to the ground, of Crowley (now in human form) rushing over and grabbing one of the doors to help slam them shut before shoving the leg of a table in between the handles. None of this mattered, because Jaina Proudmoore was dead.

'Five seconds, that's all you get right now'

One, Ruby breathed in deep.

Two, she breathed out.

Three, she curled her hand into a fist.

Four, she punched the wall shattering it.

Five, she cursed loudly.

"We need to keep moving, it's what Jaina would have wanted."

The others agreed, standing up they rushed down the hallway as the door started to splinter behind them.

They had made it into another room (it looked like a kitchen) when they heard the demons approaching, they had apparently rallied the Fortress' guards.

Thrall's grip on Doomhammer tightened, "Go! I'll hold them off here, there is a debt of blood to be paid now."

"Thrall, thank you, for everything."

He smiled at her, and then turned to meet his end head on.

They had reached the room they were looking for, Crowley (back in the form of a Worgan) tackled the door, smashing it down, and then the fighting began.

Ruby rolled out of the way as fire blast past her head. She drew the sword she had taken along (she had learned that it was a bad idea to bring Crescent Rose into enclosed places) and rammed it into the skull of the demon next to her, before spinning around and decapitated the one trying to sneak up behind her.

She pulled out the pistol that Crowley had given her, shoved it under the jaw of the next demon and pulled the trigger. She parried the blade of the felguard that attempted to attack her and left a gash in it's side, which quickly started to rot.

The fighting had gone on for about fifteen minutes by the time they killed them all.

They all looked at the portal leading to Azeroth, before pushing Crowley, who was bleeding heavily through it.

Illidan sighed, "Ruby, there's something I didn't tell you, to do this, someone has to stay behind."

She looked at him confused for a second before her eyes widened in realization, "No, absolutely not."

"We have no choice."

"Illidan, I already lost Jaina today, I refuse to-"

Ruby was cut off when something crashed into her lips. Something was slipping into her hands.

The last remains of the demons Thrall had been fighting rushed in, and before Ruby could do anything else Malfurion had grabbed her around the waist and was pulling her towards the portal. 'Why isn't he arguing, it's his brother,' it dawned on her, 'they planned this' as she was dragged into the portal she saw Illidan only had one of his glaives.

"YOU! ARE NOT! PREPARED!"

They came out of the portal where they started, she looked around Malfurion And Crowley both looked at her with this sad look in their eyes

'I am not going to cry.'

She opened a Death Gate and walked into it.

'I am not going to cry.'

She made it back to her quarters before it finally overwhelmed her.

In less than a day, she had lost her last friend from Lordaeron, lost one of the two still living member of the horde she could stand, and lost her lover. She was allowed more than five seconds of weakness.[/I]


	3. Chapter 3

Ruby was leaning in the corner of the Combat Instruction room. While she didn't need to be there, it _had_ been twenty years, and she wanted to get a feel for how her soon to be students fought. She could see that occasionally members of the class would glance over at her, obviously confused as to why she was in plate armor.

Goodwitch was talking about scenarios where you were fighting an experienced opponent, ' _hey there's an idea.'_

"Hey, Goodwitch!"

She watched as Goodwitch inhaled through her nose, it was always fun screwing with people like her.

"Yes, Miss Rose?"

"Highlord Rose, if you please, I didn't get this title so nobody could use it."

She had been spending too much time with Velann.

"Highlord Rose, then, what is it?"

"How about we give them a demonstration of what you're talking about?"

"How so?"

"Say, me against all of Team JNPR?"

She watched as all of the aforementioned team looked at each other in confusion, a feral grin on her face.

"Very well."

Oh, she knew why Goodwitch was letting this happen, she didn't believe an inch of their story, and to be fair it was pretty ridiculous. So she hoped that Ruby would lose this fight so she could use it as leverage to get Ruby back in her class, and throw Darmus and his retinue of Knights out of Beacon.

"Alright kiddos, you heard her, down into the arena."

She was totally doing this because she wanted to see how they fight, not because she was going stir crazy. She wasn't going to use the years of extra experience she had to wipe the floor with them.

She had spent _way_ too much time with Velann.

Jaune couldn't help but wonder _how_ he got into this mess, standing across from his first friend in Beacon, who was staring at his team like a Beowolf looked at a piece of meat.

But, was she really his friend? He knew that he was being slightly hypocritical, he had his dirty secret too, but there was a difference between seeking into a school and not telling anyone something like this!

Team JNPR had discussed it last night, and while they had agreed to not judge her too harshly for it, she was after all, not in full control or even partial, Jaune couldn't help but wonder how much of what he knew of his friend was real, and how much was a lie crafted so nobody would realize she probably knew twenty seven ways to kill them.

"Whenever you're ready Glynda."

He could _feel_ the glare Goodwitch shot at Ruby from here.

"The match will start in three-"

Was it just him or did Ruby's grin just get wider?

"-two-"

She crouched down.

"-one-"

She curled one hand into a claw, why was she doing-

"-Start!"

Cold metal wrapped around his face, and suddenly his body was off the ground, flying, before he was reintroduced to it, skull first.

He heard the sound of gunfire and the black and red blur above him disappeared.

"Jaune! Are you alright!?"

As Pyrrha helped him back up, the world came back into focus. He saw that Ren was firing at Ruby, who was disappearing and reappearing every few seconds, that wolfish grin still on her face.

She disappeared again, only to reappear behind Ren. Before Jaune could even open his mouth to warn him, Ruby slammed her leg into his skull. She then disappeared again, dodging a hammer blow from Nora.

Pyrrha whipped around, just in time for Ruby's fist to smash into Akoúo̱. Ruby looked shocked, just for a second, before the grin came back.

A ringing filled the air and Ruby was sent flying backwards. She dug one of the clawed gauntlets she was wearing into the ground, holding herself in place.

Suddenly tendrils of energy danced across Ruby's form and started to slowly move forward, he glanced over at Pyrrha and saw sweat dripping down her face. Ruby raised one hand, and _pulled_.

One of tendrils lashed out wrapping around the red head. Pyrrha went hurtling forward into Ruby's waiting fist. As Pyrrha laid on the ground dazed, Ruby walked away, right toward him.

Nora came hurtling out from the left, Magnhild swinging towards Ruby's head. Only to be stopped by Ruby grabbing Magnhild's shaft, she no longer had the grin on her face, instead she looked vaguely bored.

As she lifted the hand holding Magnhild up, she cocked back her other arm and then Ruby dived+ out of the way as Ren WY m3ws bored, she looked irritated. Ruby pulled back her metal clad fist.

Once, Nora's lip split, twice, a whimper escaped her, thrice, Nora went limp.

"Nora Valkyrie is eliminated!"

Ruby threw Nora the side, where she didn't move, before turning towards Ren, Pyrrha took that moment to fire a shot from Miló that struck Ruby in the arm. Ruby didn't even flinch as she kicked Ren in the head, sending him skidding next to Nora, removing him from the match too.

It was at that moment, as she had her back turned and he could see it sitting in her holster that it hit Jaune like a ton of bricks, _at no point in the match had Ruby drawn Crescent Rose._

"She's playing with us."

This realization chilled him to the bone. He knew from Ruby's story that she was some sort of half zombie super soldier, but seeing her, now, as she turned to finish the fight (her game with them) with Pyrrha and him made it real. She shrugged off bullets from Miló, the blow from Ren already knitting back together.

The next thirty seconds were a blur, Ruby was in front of them. Miló, back in the form of a sword, bit into her cheek, ripping open the injury Ren had made leave a gaping hole on her face. Akoúo̱ was torn from Pyrrha's arm and thrown aside before Ruby's knee crashed into Pyrrha's nose. Ruby lifted Pyrrha up and chucked her out of the arena.

Jaune swung Crocea Mors only to have it ripped from his hand. She then proceeded to smash it's hilt into his temple, at which point, he fell into sweet oblivion.

-X LINE BREAK X-

It took all the training in schooling her emotions Weiss had not to openly gape at what she had just watched.

' _how much has Ruby been holding back?'_ It was a good question, Weiss liked to think she knew her partner well enough by now, and one thing she had learned was that Ruby was poor at unarmed combat, so to see her dismantle one of the best first year teams without drawing her scythe once came as a shock.

As the entirety of Team JNPR was helped up -and checked for concussions- Ruby lept out of the arena and settled back against the wall she had been leaning on before. About six minutes later, one of the Knight that had rode in the day before came rushing in, standing taller than Ruby, which was saying something, seeing as one of the modifications Arthas had made was apparently hiking Ruby up to six feet. The man was blue, had what appeared to be a beard made of tentacles hanging from his face and had hooves. It only became clear what Ruby had been talking about when she said 'mutations' during her story when they meet the Knight to be stationed at Beacon. A man who was only tall enough to reach Weiss's, admittedly short, chest, a man who could shift into a giant bipedal wolf that reminded Weiss, and judging by the way others had discreetly reached for their weapons, most of the first year class of a young Beowolf, and a tall, pale blue woman with tusks poking out of her lips. It also became clear that the Knights of the Ebon Blade had a clothing theme, consisting of ornate armor coated in imagery of bones.

Pushing off the wall, she clapped her hands together, "Right, I need to go do Highlord-y things now," it was extremely unnerving to see the hole in her cheek open as she spoke, sinew and muscle already stitching the wolyund back together, she turned towards Jaune, "Jaune if you can't land a hit on me next time we spar I'm hanging you off Acherus by your leg." She then swept out of the room, her cloak, the only part of her appearance that hadn't changed, billowing behind her.

The man (she thought she heard Ruby and the shorter man, Darmus, refer to him as Malag) looked startled, "You're training with Highlord Rose?" after Jaune nodded Malag shook his head, "Well you'll either come out of it amazing at combat, or dead," and then he rushed out after Ruby.

Weiss shared a glance with Yang and Blake, how much of what they knew about their team leader were lies?

-X LINE BREAK X-

Ruby stood in the elevator to Ozpin's office, he had asked to see her alone. She shifted uncomfortably as the last of her ribs snapped back into place, Nora had managed to pulverize her chest with that hit from Magnhild. It was, even after twenty years, strange to have such a perfect understanding of her own biology that she could tell that one of her ribs had punctured her lungs. That was what she got for not taking the fight seriously.

As the door cracked open she called out, "Alright, Ozpin what do you-" She stopped then and glanced at the window, weighing her options, _'I've survived falls from higher, right?'_

What had caused this sudden wish to risk bodily harm to get away? Her dad and Uncle Qrow were in the room with her.

-X LINE BREAK X-

To say Qrow Branwen was angry was like saying a tornado was a little windy technically true but also a huge understatement. Somebody had hurt Ruby, his niece, his student!

He looked over at Tai, who had fire coiling around his body, like a set of constantly shifting tattoos. The flames had leapt straight from dark red to white, a clear sign that he wanted to go out and turn this Arthas to ash.

"Where. Is. He." It wasn't a question so much as a demand that slipped out of Tai's mouth.

"Dead. Your daughter, alongside an organization she apparently leads, hunted him down around eight days ago."

"Any chance we could dig up his body and piss on it or something?" Qrow resorted to his time honored companion, sarcasm.

The flames around Tai dulled down, shock flashing across his face.

"Is she alright?"

"She is fine, though she seems to have picked up a fondness for sarcasm while she was gone."

"Can… Can we see her?" Qrow grimaced, he hadn't heard Tai sound that broken since Summer died. The fire around him has died completely.

"Of course, I've already sent a message to one of the members of the Ebon Blade asking him to tell her that I needed to speak with her.

"Ebon Blade?"

"It's the name of the organization of renegade 'Death Knights' she leads, The Knights of the Ebon Blade."

Ozpin locked the two hunters with a look, that left Qrow squirming in his chair, feeling like he was back at Beacon and had been caught misbehaving, "I must warn you, I have reason to believe that Ruby is not being truthful about what happened, as such I would like you both to think about transferring to Beacon so as to help keep an eye on her."

Qrow found his voice first, "You want us to spy on Ruby?"

Ozpin stood up, and walked over to the windows, "Yes."

Qrow lept from his seat slamming his hands on the desk in front of him,"Oz, why the _hell_ would we do-

"Because, Qrow, if Ruby is lying then we need to find out _where_ this group came from and how she has connections to them, if she's not, then there is apparently a large collection of people we have never known about out there. A group of people mind you, that your niece was able to meet with regularly enough to plan an assault on a man we had never heard of before despite him gathering an army. A man who was able to make a copy of your niece so realistic that neither of you had even realized she was gone in the first place."

"But-"

"Qrow, I understand, I truly do, but as it stands whatever we know about Ruby Rose needs to be assumed false."

Qrow fell back with an explosive sigh, "I… I understand Oz, it just, _fuck_ , this is Ruby we're talking about."

"I know and you won't have to do this alone, shortly before Ruby disappeared she met and made friends with one of James's students, I'm sending him a request to allow us to have her help us on this too."

At that moment the elevator opened. A voice with a ringing metal echo behind it called out, "Alright, Ozpin what do you-" Ruby stopped there. Qrow couldn't help but stare, she looked like she had aged a year or two since last time he had seen her. Her eyes were a solid glowing silver, and she had heavy armor on.

A look of pain flashed across Ruby's face. "Dad? Uncle Qrow? What are you doing here?"

Qrow opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Tai tore past him and swept Ruby into a bear hug.

Ruby's body tensed, and she slowly, almost mechanically raised her arms up and wrapped them around Tai. "Daddy?" the word came out broken, tears shining down her face.

Qrow stepped forward wrapping his arms around them both.

Somebody had broken Ruby, and he could already tell it would take a long time to put the pieces together, but that was ok, Team STRQ was good at doing that.

-X LINE BREAK X-

"Pitwick, please stop."

Velann sighed for what felt like the thousandth time in the past four days. Pitwick had been practically vibrating since they got the news. Ruby had managed to convince her partner, Weiss, to explain the intricacies of Dust to him. She had been dragged along to play babysitter because Ruby was going to do… something, she had dodged the question every time anyone asked. Darmus meanwhile was training his team of Knights, which (if her own apprenticeship under Ruby had taught her anything) was code for 'take my sadistic impulses out on you'. Thus she was stuck watching Pitwick. She would have never taken the promotion to Knight-Lieutenant if she had known that it meant that the title was code for 'babysitter'.

The Bullhead, that Ozpin had graciously given the Ebon Blade to use so they didn't have to waste a quarter of the day riding from Acherus (and that Thalanor had been itching to learn how to pilot), finally landed and they dropped onto Beacon's soil. Ruby was waiting there for them alongside a girl in white, who (to Velann's amusement) opened and closed her mouth in shock for a few seconds before she schooled her face into a slightly haughty look. The minute they were out, she rushed through the introductions, "Weiss, these are my friends Pitwick and Velann, guys, this is my partner Weiss Schnee," and then she was gone.

Velann frowned, it was never good when Ruby went this far out of her way to avoid answering questions. It usually lead to her pulling some insane stunt that reminded everyone why Ruby was terrifying. 

Velann then turned her attention to the girl whose attitude reminded her so much of her people before the destruction of the Sunwell. It would be fun to play with her until she lost that very same attitude. 

-X LINE BREAK X-

Ruby leapt down into the forest, allowing her senses, both physical and magical, to stretch out. She was looking for any remains of her mother. It was surprisingly easy to locate, for a place overrun by Grimm there was a surprisingly small amount of death. Then again she was rather deep in the Grimm's territory. She turned and immediately started marching towards the only dead human in the area.

When she got there, she frowned. The body was directly below where she was standing, but there was nothing there. Had someone buried it?

About two hours later, Ruby had struck paydirt. Summer's body was doing strangely well for something that had been rotting for ten years. It took a few minutes of moving dirt away from her mother's body without harming it before the cause of her death became apparent. Ruby growled deeply and long, it hadn't been the Grimm that did this, there was a hole from a blade piercing through her mother's heart.

She frowned, her family didn't need to see Summer's body like this.

She raised up a hand, dredging up knowledge she had spent the better part of nine years suppressing, then she cast one spell to repair Summer's body.

Then she cast another, and another, and another.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Light shined into her eyes, she grumbled, it was too early to wake up.

A voice called out, feminine but with a bite of metal, "Are you alright? I haven't done this in a long time and you had been gone for a while. Try to sit up slowly."

What was the voice talking about? She had gone to sleep at her camp the night before, on a mission to hunt a pack of Beowolves.

"Can you sit up?" She cracked open her eyes and sat up. Crouching in front of her was a woman who looked like her younger clone.

"What's going on?" Were the first words of the newly risen Summer Rose.

"There's no easy way to say this, but you've been dead for ten years."

"W-What?"

If what this figure was saying was true then what had happened to- "Tai! Yang! Ruby!"

"They are fine."

"How do you know that?"

The girl searched her face. "Who do you think I am?"

Summer opened her mouth to demand an answer, only to pause and take in the face of the girl, who looked so similar to her.

"Ruby?" The question came out as a croak and Summer abruptly realized that her voice also had a ringing metal echo.

"Hello, Mom."

Summer staggered upright, reaching out to grab onto her daughter, "You've grown up, so much."

A wry smile slipped onto Ruby's lips, "That tends to happen when you've had ten years to grow up."

Ruby stood up, and helped Summer out of the hole she was in. "We should probably get going, the LZ for the Bullhead I came in is about half an hour away." She paused before bringing her fingers to her mouth and whistled.

A couple seconds passed before a horse came trotting into sight. It's skin had turned pale green from rot and in some places was gone all together. Spectral green flames came from it's hooves, and ran down it's back in the place of a mane. The usually soulful eyes of a horse were replaced with flaming green orb that roved over the two woman waiting on it.

Ruby strode forward, stroking it. "Hello my old friend," her voice was soft and caring, she glanced at Summer, "this is Despair, he'll get us to where we need to go."

As they climbed onto Despair's back, Summer asked a question that _probably_ should have been higher on her list of priorities.

"Ruby?" Ruby gave a hum to confirm that she heard her, "You said I was dead right? Then how did I come back?" Summer could feel and see Ruby tense.

"I don't want to talk about it now, can it wait till we're back at Beacon?"

"Beacon?"

"I got let in a couple of years early."

"No, I mean, I never wanted for you or Yang to become Huntresses, I never wanted you to have to fight for your lives."

"Too late for that."

Summer looked down in shame. Had her death caused Ruby and Yang to decide to throw their lives away?

"Wipe that look off your face, it's not your fault."

"Is that anyway to talk to your mother?"

Ruby snorted, "You might not have noticed this, but I'm not exactly a cuddly person anymore mom."

At that point they had reached the clearing where the Bullhead was waiting for them. Once they had climbed is Despair turned and galloped into a portal.

Ruby pulled out her scroll and dialed a number.

"Ozpin? I need you to get my family in a meeting room. I'll explain when we get there."

Summer blinked, confused at how flippantly her daughter was talking to the head of Beacon.

They would definitely have to have a discussion about what had happened when she was gone.

-X LINE BREAK X -

Darmus was pacing, Velann and Pitwick and him were standing at the Beacon landing pads. There had been a massive blast of energy, one that any Death Knight would recognize, someone had just raised a new Death Knight.

Darmus was willing to put good money on it being Ruby. She was one of the few Death Knights who knew how to raise a new one, and she had been dodging questions about where she was going. He had expressed his belief to the other two and they both agreed. Pitwick was leaning against a statue, frost slowly creeping out from his body.

Velann raised the question they were all wondering, "Why the hell would Rubes raise someone?"

Pitwick chimed in, "Ruby has always been ambivalent about raising people, she felt that there might be a time and place to use it."

"She's wrong." This was a matter that Darmus and Ruby had argued about countless times, and the only long lasting argument that neither had given any ground on. He knew that there _are_ people who chose undeath, but he felt that tearing someone away from their afterlife was something profoundly wrong.

The Bullhead had appeared over the horizon then, and he stopped pacing.

"Darmus, please just don't do anything drastic. We have enough problems right now without you and Ruby fighting."

Darmus didn't respond to Pitwick(Didn't even listen to the old gnome, with his righteous fury roaring in the back of his head), his eyes locked onto the rapidly approaching Bullhead.

As it landed and Ruby jumped out he cleared the space between them and slammed her into the hull. "What the _fuck_ did you do?"

"It's none of your business-"

"Bullshit, it isn't! You just raised someone, we don't _do_ that Ruby!"

"And why shouldn't I? I didn't hurt them, if anything I did the exact opposite!"

"Because it's _wrong_ " The next words out of Darmus' mouth were, in hindsight, probably the worst thing he could have said, "If you start using that justification, how long until you're just as bad as Sylvanas-"

The world erupted into stars and Darmus let go of Ruby to stagger back, clutching his broken jaw.

"Never, compare me to Sylvanas."

As his jaw leapt back into place Darmus grabbed his hammer, Shattered Light, from his back. The runes along its head lit up as he tensed, Ruby meanwhile had pulled Crescent Rose out and raised one of her arms, a sickly green miasma running along it in the shape of skulls.

Darmus grimaced, Ruby was always best

with her diseases. He had once seen her create one that rotted away a man's hand and nothing more in seconds. He would have to finish this quick. He dragged some of his blood to the surface, intent to create a maelstrom of whirling microblades

Before either of them could move a wall of ice formed in between them, hoarfrost creeping out from it's bottom and chilling the air around it.

"Before you two kill each other, or more likely, everyone around you. might I suggest _asking the person Ruby raised their opinion on the matter_?"

It was at that moment that Darmus noticed that standing off to the side (apparently pulled there by Velann) was a woman in her late twenties. She was glancing between him and Ruby with a look of horror on her face.

As Ruby's miasma faded away, Darmus released the blades into the ground, once they were on their way out there was no way to return them to his bloodstream.

Pitwick turned towards the woman and smiled up at her, "May I ask your name, young lady?"

"Summer Rose."

They all turned their heads towards Ruby, who looked sheepish. Well, that explained a lot. Velann slid in between them and whispered into Ruby's ear, though Darmus could still hear it, "So how does it feel to be older than your own mother?" Ruby and him both snorted at that. He would later say that it was moments like that, that he had insisted on Velann getting the promotion into a Knight-Lieutenant.

"Summer, if I might ask, how do you feel about what Ruby did?"

She seemed to shift uncomfortably, "I don't know, I'm not really sure what is going on."

Pitwick hummed, "Yes, Ruby has always prefered to dodge questions rather than answer them. On this topic in particular it would be truly difficult to get her to talk. Please if you have any questions, ask them, and I'll do my best to answer them."

Summer asked what must have been every question that had popped into her mind since she had been raised. She had adopted a look of horror as the explanation had gone on. Though, to Darmus's ire, it appeared to be less because of what Ruby had done to her and more what had happened to Ruby while she was gone.

Things took a turn for the worse when, perhaps inevitably, Illidan got brought up.

"Who's Illidan?"

Pitwick had never been one for tact and decided to break the news as swiftly as possible, "He was your daughter's boyfriend."

Summer turned to Ruby, whose face had frozen in place.

"You have a boyfriend?"

Ruby didn't respond, Darmus knew why, Ruby had always hated what she perceived as pity that came in the wake of Illidan's death. Velann was the one who decided to be the bearer of bad news, "Had a boyfriend Mrs. Rose, he died."

Summer looked even further crestfallen at that information, "Ruby, I'm sor-"

"I don't want your fucking pity."

Summer staggered back as if struck, hurt flashing across her face. Ruby turned around and looked at Velann, the next words out of her mouth was the Language of Death that all the Scourge spoke, "You deal with her." Probably forgetting that her mother was now one of them as well and would understand it. Darmus scowled after Ruby. 

She then strode away. Darmus reached out to stop Summer from going after her, "let her calm down first."

"Why?"

"Ruby has never been good at differentiating pity and sympathy, and she hates people pitying her."

Summer breathed in deep, "Ok."

"Did she tell you where you were supposed to be going?"

"Just that Ozpin was setting up a room with Yang and the rest."

"Then let's try to find it shall we?"

-X LINE BREAK X-

 _Ruby tugged at the high collar of her dress uniform. To its credit, it was better than the dress she had been made to wear to the one party she had gone to as Uther's ward. That dress had been a stood next to her scowling, "From the way they are acting you'd have thought they did all the work."_

" _They" were the leaders of the Alliance, celebrating the defeat of the Burning Legion (more like banishment from_ _this_ _world and it wasn't like the Legion forces on the planet were gone, yet.)._

" _Yes, well, when have we ever gotten credit for things we do?" It was something that had bothered Ruby for a while, that despite the sacrifices the Ebon Blade had given for both sides over the years, they were still held at arms length._

 _Perhaps the thing that galled her the most was all the people who were acting like they knew Illidan before he died. She had dealt with hundreds of people coming up to tell her 'how sorry they were for [her] loss.' It was the same for Jania, and she couldn't help but notice the lack of mention that Thrall's sacrifice should have garnered. But then again to this crowd he was just the hated enemy._

 _Thassarian's voice cut through her thoughts like a blade, "Lord Greymane, how may we help you?"_

 _Sure enough, Genn was standing in front of them. He looked uncomfortable, a strange expression in the prideful Wolf King's face._

" _May I speak to Highlord Rose for a moment, alone?"_

" _Of course, Lord Greymane."_

 _Ruby followed Genn out onto a balcony._

" _I need to apologize to you, Ruby."_

 _So they were returning to first names, "Why?"_

" _Several reasons. One of which is that you have lost several friends and I'm using it as an opportunity to throw a party."_

" _Genn."_

" _You have to understand Ruby, while you and Vairan never saw eye to eye, he was beloved by the people of Stormwind. They are taking his death hard."_

" _Genn, I'm not blaming you."_

" _WELL YOU SHOULD BE!" Fangs had replaced Genn's teeth. Ruby jolted back in shock, not used to seeing her Gilnean friend this agitated._

" _Genn, what are you talking about?"_

" _You should have had much more backing than just five men on that mission! You should have had an entire army! But I couldn't give up my hatred of Sylvanas for killing Liam, and because of that, you've lost someone you loved. None of the leaders, of either side, could see past the hatred of our pasts."_

" _Genn... I…"_

" _When Illidan came to us with that plan, we all agreed to keep it from you in return for him being the one who died . But thinking back, if someone had kept information that could have saved Liam from me, I would have torn them to shreds. You have every right to hate me, Crowley, Dalaran's leaders, all of us._

" _"Genn, we all agreed that this was the best plan, even if we didn't have enough support we were going to go through with it to stop the Legion. Illidan made a sacrifice that anyone of us would. Though why does everyone keep acting like I'm his widow?"_

 _Genn turned to look at her, confusion on his face, "You're not?"_

" _No. Why? Did you think I was?"_

 _Genn coughed, "Well, you see, you two often disappeared together, and he left everything he owned, as little as that was, to you. So we may have been running under the assumption that you two had eloped, or whatever the elven equivalent is."_

" _Do elves even get married?"_

" _I don't know."_

" _It's quite complicated."_

 _As the third voice cut in, both Genn and Ruby whipped around, Genn shifting into his lupine form and Ruby letting a punch dagger she had kept up her sleeve drop into her hand._

 _They both halted however, when they saw it was Malfurion smiling in that infuriating way he sometimes would._

" _Don't do that!"_

" _I'm sorry."_

 _They lapsed into an awkward silence. Until Genn broke it._

" _What do you mean? When you say that it's complicated?"_

" _While we do have marriages, very few people chose to have one. They are also usually permanent. Most members of our race prefer the term 'mate'."_

 _At this point Ruby tuned out Malfurion, she didn't care in any manner what he had to say. In all honesty, if she felt she could have gotten away with it she probably would have stabbed him._

 _She tensed, her enhanced sense of smell picking up a familiar, but unwelcome scent, especially here, and now._

" _-saw you as his mate."_

" _Malfurion, shut up!"_

" _Ruby-"_

" _Do you two smell that?"_

 _They both breathed in through their noses._

" _That smell-"_

" _It's rot."_

 _At that exact momenta explosion shook the castle, and a cloud of green miasma burst into existence near the gates of Stormwind._

" _No…"_

 _She didn't._

" _THAT BITCH!"_

 _Why now?_

" _I'LL KILL HER!"_

 _Had she really gone that far?_

" _Sir! What do we do?"_

" _Man the cannons, I want all those rotting bastards back in the ground!"_

 _She didn't want to bury anymore friends today._

" _Sylvanas… Why?"_

 _The Forsaken had attacked._

" _Ruby! We need to help them!"_

 _Thassarian had rushed over, at some point_

 _he had appropriated three swords, the two smaller ones were already sheathed at his side. He handed her the larger one, alongside a harness for it._

 _With precision drilled into her by years of practice she pulled on the harness and sheathed the blade. Then they were rushing out of the castle and into the fray._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _When the Battle of Stormwind, or more particularly the one of the Forsaken Insurrection, was recorded it would be acknowledged that the Forsaken had been winning decisively until six moment that happened in quick succession changed the tide of battle._

 _The first was when a Night Elf rogue wielding the Fangs of the Devourer slipped into the Forsaken forces and detonated the entirety of their supply of the Plague, at the cost of her own life._

 _The second came when a pair Gnome siblings, one a Warlock and the other a mage, The Scepter of Sargeras and Felo'melorn in hand rained fire down upon the Forsaken, breaking their ranks._

 _The third was when a Worgen warrior, using the Scale of the Earth-Warder, rallied the failing soldiers into a line of plate and blades that broke the Forsaken charge._

 _The fourth was when the Argent Crusade, led by a Dwarven Paladin who brought the light of the Silver Hand to bear, invigorating her allies and burning the Forsaken in Holy light._

 _The fifth was when a Dranari Priest slammed Tuure into the ground, releasing a wave of light that stitched together the defenders' wounds._

 _The sixth was the first of three confrontations between the Banshee Queen and the Pale Horsewoman._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Lilsalia Lunashade slammed her dagger into the Forsaken's throat, "Night-y night."_

 _As she tore the dagger out, she yanked her other hand in the opposite direction, decapitating the undead, "Ewww!"_

 _She slipped into the shadows, heading towards where they were keeping the barrels of the Plague occasionally eliminating a patrol._

 _As she finally reached them she crouched down checking the barrels, "You're going to hate this surprise!"_

" _We will, will we?"_

 _She looked up, standing in front of her was a group of Forsaken pointing guns at her._

" _Stand up slowly and keep your hands where I can see them."_

 _She did so._

" _Now slowly move away from the barrels."_

 _She inched away from them._

" _Alright, Men, aim for the head."_

" _Wait, you're not taking me hostage?"_

" _What gave that away, the guns aimed qt your head? Any last words?"_

 _Lilsalia thought about it for a second before nodding, "Bye-bye!"_

 _Faster than they could comprehend the detonator for the bombs she had slipped onto the barrels was in her hand and the button pressed._

 _As the explosion knocked her off her feet, and Plague flooded out of the barrels onto her and her assailants, Lilsalia Lunashade felt two things, the first was satisfaction at the look of horror on the leader's face, the second was agony as her flesh melted from the bone._

 _Then there was nothing._

 _-X LINE BREAK X -_

 _Finkmink Tinkfuse raised his hand, sweat pouring from his face as he, alongside his sister Mitnus and the groups of mages and warlocks they had gathered, pumped all their energy into the most destructive spell any of them had ever tried._

 _As the fire, both Fel and not danced in a giant orb of destruction above them Finkmink couldn't help but think he had the hardest job, containing the fire until they launched it. He had once heard a Shaman say that Fire was an element that did not want to be contained, and years of experience with Fel magic taught him that the same held true for it._

 _As Warlock and Mage alike collapsed exhausted from the drain on them, he glanced at his sister who grinned at him, before collapsing too._

 _He launched the spell at the Forsaken forces before falling backwards, the last thing he felt before joining his sister in exhausted sleep was the heat from the maelstrom of fire in the distance._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Donovan Lancaster growled, the Stormwind guards were about to lay down their arms and attempt to flee, not happening, not on his watch._

" _So this is it? You are going to be a bunch of cowards?"_

" _Is it cowardly to flee to fight another day?"_

" _It is when there are innocent people who need you to protect them. When you joined this guard, I know you swore an oath to protect the people of Stormwind. Are you going to break that oath here? Because if you run, and have no doubt what you're doing is running, then every single man, woman, and child who dies at the soulless monsters hands is your fault just as much as it is theirs. And if I survive today, I will find every single one of you, and I will make sure that stigma follows your family for generations, your children will grow up ashamed to be the child of a coward, and their children will know it and so on and so on, until all that remains of your legacy is that of a coward. Or, you could go out there, and know that even if we die every second we hold the line is one more second for those people to get to safety."_

 _As his speech went on soldiers of Stormwind seemed to stand taller._

" _Let's go remind those rotting sacks of shit why they don't fuck with the Alliance!"_

 _As Donovan marched out of the room with the guards of Stormwind, and locked his shield with them he felt a form of grim satisfaction. The Forsaken had already taken one home away from him, they wouldn't take another._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Nalores Goldfist rode at the head of the Argent Crusade, Silver Hand, the hammer of Tyr held in one hand. They had slipped out a hidden side entrance to Stormwind and were riding to assault the Forsaken from behind._

 _As they rounded the corner they found the Forsaken locked in a stalemate with the guards of Stormwind._

 _Nalores drew upon the Light as they crashed into the Forsaken's unprotected flank, and could feel it respond, the guards and Crusaders alike seemed to fight harder as the Forsaken's skin burned._

 _But despite it all, they still were not winning. The Forsaken still had too many soldier, and everyone who died could be potentially turned against them._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Dudiir stood at the top of the Stormwind keep. He closed his eyes as Tuure floated around him. He opened himself to the Light, willingly allowing it to flow through him. Light was a force of creation, it naturally wanted to help, but needed a nudge in the right direction._

 _He gathered as much as he dared risk, even Light in high amounts could be lethal. He would later learn that he had become a beacon and that for a brief second it had been as if the sun was high in the sky._

 _As he brought Tuure down and released the Light in a wave of energy. He could feel what happening to those he was helping, wounds knitted together, those on the brink of death leaping up hale and hearty._

 _He staggered down, allowing himself a moment to rest._

 _In that moment, a howl reached his ear, like a blast of winter wind._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X -_

 _Finkmink sat up holding his head, "what the hell was that?"_

 _-X LINE BREAK X -_

 _Donovan flinched as the howl reached him, Nalores doing the same. "Did that sound like a name to you?"_

 _She nodded, "Yes"_

 _\- X LINE BREAK X -_

 _All throughout Stormwind people heard the cry, one of pure rage and despair._

" _ **SYLVANAS**_ _!"_

 _\- X LINE BREAK X -_

 _Ruby looked on in horror, standing before them was Koltira, who had just cut down an innocent civilian._

 _Thassarian asked the question they both had, "What the hell are you doing?"_

 _Koltira didn't respond, instead charging at them._

 _The fight that followed was quick. Koltira, while dangerous, had never been as good as Ruby or Thassarian._

 _Ruby blocked his blow with the sword which shattered, as Thassarian's swords slipped into Koltira's side, before pumping ice into his organs._

 _Even a Death Knight can only take so much damage and his body collapsed. He looked up, "Ruby? Thassarian?"_

" _We're right here, Koltira."_

" _You- you need to stop Sylvanas, she's gone mad."_

" _W-we will Koltira."_

 _To Ruby's shock, she realized Thassarian was crying._

" _Good, I'm gonna take a nap, try to heal up a bit. Thassarian? When I get better, you and I are going out for drinks._

" _O-of c-course, Kol-Koltira."_

 _At that point the glow faded from his eyes. Thassarian's sobbing grew worse._

 _Ruby breathed in, and opened a Death Gate, "Thassarian, I'm ordering you to take Koltira's body and leave the battlefield."_

 _It showed just how out of sorts Thassarian was that he didn't even argue, picking up his friend's body he staggered into the gate._

 _Ruby turned, and then, with no warning, no whistle or called name, she had leapt on Despair's back and was off._

 _The connection between Ruby and Despair was different from that of any other Death Knight and their mount, they had been used in an experiment to create the ultimate pair. As such Ruby was able to know where Despair was, and could call on him, at all times without any warning. Despair meanwhile gained the ability to move as fast as Ruby could. Faster, in truth, because of his stature._

 _As she rode through the streets of Stormwind, she released a howl of pure rage, making sure that her target knew she was coming for her, "SYLVANAS!"_

 _\- X LINE BREAK X -_

 _Sylvanas sat on her horse, tensed, waiting for the origin of that howl to appear._

 _When she saw Ruby charging at her she fired an arrow at her, only for it to be deflected by a shattered sword._

 _As Ruby changed forward towards the last remains of the Forsaken forces, Sylvanas quickly realized how much she underestimated her one time friend._

 _A miasma followed behind Ruby. The evil mist was killing anything that got caught in it's path, anything already dead went straight onto step two and was raised as zombies._

 _What had started as a single berserk charge swiftly picked up speed as all manner of creatures joined the stampede. Wolves, gryphons, rams, drakes, horses, humans, dwarves, elves, gnomes, dranari, worgen (WHAT!? The only person who had done that before was Arthas!), pandarians. Most having fallen to Sylvanas' forces, It was like hell itself had risen up to serve her._

 _Sylvanas knew when to cut her losses and this was one of those times, "FALL BACK!"_

 _That was how the friendship between Sylvanas Windrunner, the Banshee Queen and Ruby Rose, the Pale Horsewoman came to an end._


	4. Chapter 4

"I fucked up."

It had taken Ruby about four hours to get to the point where she was willing to admit that. After her argument with Darmus, she had opened a Death Gate to Acherus, changed into the copy of her old outfit (sue her, she still liked it) and fled to Vale.

She was currently in the red light district of Vale, dodging idiots who thought she was a hooker.

It reminded her of back when she first landed in Azeroth, back when getting back to Remnant had seemed like an inevitability, rather than a hope. She had wanted to come back with stories to tell Yang, Blake and Weiss, so she would slip out of the Silver Hand's base to explore Lordaeron until Uther, or if he wasn't too busy, Alexandros, tracked her down and dragged her back.

Uther, it had been eighteen years and she still missed the old Paladin. He had become a father figure to her, often going out of his way to visit her at least once a day unless something was going wrong.

That wasn't to say he wasn't without his flaws, his hatred of Orcs had always been something they disagreed on and she was willing to bet he would have exploded if he had lived long enough to see Durotar rise. He was also at least in part responsible for Arthas's fall, though Ruby was willing to admit that both Jaina and herself had played their part, and it was ultimately Arthas's fault.

Ruby slipped into the shadows, a beer she had stolen from a bar a few streets back in hand. It pissed her off that she was over twice Vale's drinking age, but would have to wait another month to actually buy alcohol.

She let her eyes roam the alley she was in as she downed the beer (which tasted like shit). Drug dealer, _actual_ prostitutes, that guy was an undercover cop, a couple of guys talking with a girl who looked _completely_ out of place.

The girl looked vaguely familiar. Cute, ginger with green eyes and freckles, wearing a grey dress with green accents. Ruby found herself raking her memories to remember where she had seen her before.

' _Oh. She's the girl that we met just before Blake ran off and helped us fight off the White Fang. What was her name, Piper… no. Polly... no, Penny… that was it!'_

Ruby slipped out of the shadows, pulling up her hood, and listened to what they were saying.

"How about fifty bucks?"

"For what, Mister?

"You know what."

"I do?"

Ruby was standing right behind them now, she leaned down and rasped out, "How about you leave my friend alone, and in return I don't break every bone in your body?"

Both men whipped around, startled. They seemed to settle down when they saw her appearance. One of them flicked out a pocket knife, cute.

"So, I'll take that as a no?"

They glanced at each other, confused. Idiots.

Ruby gestured sharply, and the idiot with the knife dropped it, and went clutching at his throat. Idiot number two had just enough time to blink before a foot crashed into his gut.

She turned towards Penny, "Come on Penny, we should probably get out of here."

Idiot number one got up then, scooping up his knife and charging at them with a yell. Illidan's glaive was in Ruby's hand with preternatural speed. Before she could swing it though, a sword's dull edge- with something glistening trailing behind it- struck his feet and pulled them out from under him. She looked at Penny who was reeling in the sword with an embarrassed, "You said we should go?"

Ruby chuckled, it reminded her of how Illidan and she met for the first time.

Yang had thought that her month would have gotten better once they found Ruby, she was also completely wrong.

First, she had learned that her sister had been enslaved to the will of a megalomaniac for years, without anyone noticing. That for a period of time it hadn't even _been_ her little sister living with her but a copy. The hardest part about that had been how Ruby didn't seem to blame them at all. She had failed her little sister, but Ruby didn't care.

Then, they had gotten their first look at the 'necropolis' (which according to Blake meant city of the dead, a name that -in Yang's personal opinion- did not bode well for much) that Ruby and her friends were working out of. A giant pyramid floating in the sky that had a giant horned skull hanging from it, with a giant eye between the horns. They were going to see inside it later that day, alongside a reporter from VNN, nominally because Ozpin had contracted jobs out to them, in truth because people were just curious about the flying fortress in the sky.

The fact that Ruby had said to not send anyone squeamish had been duly noted.

Now, she was standing in front of her beloved step-mother, who had just walked into the room with three of Ruby's knights, and, as far as anyone knew, was dead. Her eyes were the glow she was swiftly coming to associate with Arthas's 'servants'. Had that monster dragged her back too?

Tai-Yang could feel his pulse pounding. He staggered forward reaching for Summer. She looked like she hadn't aged a day in the last ten years.

He felt a sob tear from his throat as he staggered forward reaching for Summer, "Why?"

Even he wasn't sure what he was asking, why did you leave? Why did she show up now?

Summer seemed to take it as the first, "I didn't plan to leave, Tai."

Anger blazed forth, "Well, isn't that great?"

"Tai-"

"Ten years, Summer, you left me alone for TEN YEARS! And then you think you can just, what, waltz back in here and everything will be fine? No! I-"

"am going to sit down, and shut your damn mouth and listen."

Tai whipped to the sound of the voice, fire gathering at his knuckles. To his confusion there was no one there.

"Down here, nimrod."

He looked down, standing about even with his shin was a old man in heavy armor who had two proportionally large swords on his back.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Name's Pitwick, and you, are going to sit your ass in that chair, be quiet and listen to what your wife has to say, before I chain you up and _make_ you listen."

Tai scoffed, "I'd like to see you try."

"Was that a challenge?" he turned towards his companions, "Did that sound like a challenge to you?"

The strawberry blond girl with unusually long perky ears sighed before reaching down and picking him up.

"Pitwick, you're not allowed to beat up your boss's father."

Yang cut in, "Dad, can we please just give her a chance?"

Tai looked at his daughter, "Fine."

They settled down, and Summer took Tai's hand in between her own, "I really didn't plan to leave, the last thing I remember was going to sleep for the night, and when I woke up Ruby was standing over my grave telling me that ten years had passed."

"Your grave?"

She nodded, "Yes, someone killed me and buried my body, nothing else would have kept me from coming back to you, Yang and Ruby."

Yang cut in then, "How did Ruby bring you back, I thought only Arthas could do that?"

The bearded man cut in then, "It will take a while to explain, why don't we all get comfortable?

It had taken about half an hour to explain _what_ Ruby had done and Velann was starting to get really annoyed at how Summer and her husband were dancing around each other, obviously uncomfortable about the fact that Summer was technically dead. There was also Tai's reaction but that had been taken care of with the explanation. Velann glanced across the table, where a man with greying black hair sat. It became clear where Ruby got her everything from, fashion sense (or at least what she had worn when on Azeroth, she had started wearing different clothing once they got to Remnant), and weapon of choice (suddenly Ruby's plan to upgrade Crescent Rose to having a sword form made a lot more sense). He seemed irritated at them also. Their eyes locked and she gestured with her head before making a sharp pushing motion, he nodded. As one they grabbed onto the half of the couple on their respective sides of the table and pushed them into each other.

Just like the time Tyrande and she had done this to Illidan and Ruby it took about two seconds before the couple were attempting to eat each other's face. Admittedly, unlike in the case of Ruby and Illidan, they hadn't been making bedroom eyes at each other across the war table in Dalaran for the past hour. There were days she honestly wondered if her friend was actually bisexual, or just attracted to people capable of large amounts of carnage.

Darmus glanced at her, "One day, that is going to backfire on you so hard."

She grinned, "It hasn't done so yet!"

She looked over at the blonde girl, approaching her and giving her a thumbs up about the push she had just given, who must have been Ruby's sister Yang, "Nice to meet you, I'm Velann."

"I'm Yang"

"I know, Ruby talks about you a lot when she's drunk."

Yang looked torn between worry and pride at her sister apparently drinking and sadness. Huh, that was strange.

"What's she say about me?"

"Mostly? How much she missed you and about fun times you had together."

Yang looked at her in shock, "I don't get this."

"What?"

"Why isn't Ruby angry at us? We never noticed-"

"I'm going to stop you there. The reason Ruby doesn't blame you is two fold, first because she never wanted you to know, and second because she only blames three people for the mess we're all in and that is Arthas, Uther, and herself."

Yang opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Velann cut her off, "Listen, don't worry about it. Ruby never has and never will blame you."

It was at that point that Summer and Tai finally came up for air.

Penny's CPU was running at full speed as she tried to figure out _what_ had happened to her friend. (and didn't that word send a jolt of energy through her circuits? It made her very Aura pulse.)

In the week and six days since they last saw each other, Ruby had somehow aged one year, six months and twelve days (with a margin of error of one month, six days). She had also gained a metallic ringing in her voice and glowing eyes.

They had just stepped out of a diner, where Ruby had bought some hot chocolate for the both of them.

In truth, Penny had never expected to see Ruby again. Mister Ironwood had said that she shouldn't after the fight on the docks, and he had never given her bad advice before.

Then they had run into each other in that alley, in the time Ruby had spent threatening the two men, Penny had accessed the CCT network and found out _exactly_ what they were talking about.

Even after the three years she had been in operation, sex was a concept completely alien to Penny. She understood that humans needed it to reproduce, but (and maybe it was because she wasn't a real girl) she never got the appeal of it.

Penny had intended to slip away the minute Ruby had looked away, but as they walked through the city, she couldn't help but get a thrill about doing something she shouldn't. Besides Ruby was her first friend and it was only normal for friends to walk around together. They didn't talk much but the silence was pleasant and companionable.

They had been walking around for about two hours when Ruby got a message on her scroll, flicking it open she looked at the message before swearing.

She turned towards Penny, "Listen, I just got reminded that there's something I need to do, so I have to go…"

"Oh, Ok." Penny tried to keep her disappointment out of her voice. Ruby looked at her.

"Do you want to come with me?"

She shouldn't, she could get herself and Ruby in trouble but none the less, "Sure!" She wanted to.

"Right, I need to change first."

Weiss was pacing back and forth on the landing pad.

"Where is she?!"

They had been waiting about twenty minutes for Ruby to show up, especially annoying because they had about five minutes until the news started and they were supposed to be flying _to_ Acherus by the time it started.

They had been forced to charter a larger airship because there were so many people going. The entirety of Teams RWBY and JNPR, Ruby's parents and uncle, Pitwick, Darmus, Velann, Professor Oobleck, Lisa Lavender and a cameraman from VNN were coming on this trip (though in the case of Pitwick and Velann, it was because they had to get back to Acherus anyway.)

Ruby had jogged into sight then in the armor she had been wearing since she got back, follow by that strange girl from a few weeks ago.

"Sorry we're late! We lost track of time."

As they shuffled into the airship Weiss saw Ruby pull her mother aside and whisper something to her. Summer just smiled and shook her head, pinching Ruby's cheek.

Lavender informed them that they would be start broadcasting in exactly one minute, and Ruby seemed to steel herself. While she wouldn't be answering a lot of questions, that duty would be going to the other three, she apparently wanted to make it clear that her not being social doesn't mean she was weak.

"Hello, this is Lisa Lavender with a special report. We are currently on an airship heading to the large fortress in the sky that has gripped the Kingdoms imagination. We have been allowed on by the owners of the base, called Acherus, the Knights of the Ebon Blade. We also have with us four members of this order, Darmus Redbrand, Pitwick Blackneedle, Velann Darkfall, and Ruby Rose."

Each one of them raised their hand in turn.

"Would you mind giving us a brief history of your organization?"

Darmus sighed, and when he spoke the slight accent he had had thickened, "It's not a happy story, lass. But we'll tell you if you really want to know."

When she nodded, he sighed again.

"Ok. The Knights of the Ebon Blade got our start as the Knights of Acherus. We were enslaved, and I do mean that literally, to the will of a man named Arthas Menethil. Arthas's Semblance allowed him to bind the souls of the people he killed within his sword, and raise them from the dead. He could also grant this power to other people. He intended to turn every living thing into one of his servants. Eventually though, we were able to break free, and after stealing Acherus, we dedicated our lives to crushing Arthas and his Scourge."

"Do we need to worry about him?"

"Not anymore, we stopped him around a week ago."

"And what do you intend to do now?"

"We're going to fight the Grimm."

Nora chose that moment to gasp loudly, drawing everyone's attention to the window.

The massive pyramid that was Acherus was even more impressive in real life than the few pictures they had seen of it.

Pitwick chimed in, Weiss liked Pitwick from what little she had spoken with him, he was surprisingly perceptive, "Isn't it beautiful? Acherus was the strongest of the Necropoli that Arthas managed to finish before we stopped him, not even Naxxramas, the base of Arthas's second in command Kel'thuzad, could withstand a direct assault from the Ebon Hold. Or at least that's what they said. Hey, Ruby?"

Ruby grunted, a scowl on her face.

"Do you think Naxx could have survived an assault from Acherus? You worked there for a bit…"

"First, to answer your question, probably not, second, don't mention that war crime around me."

Professor Oobleck, cut in, from where he had been taking notes, "War crime?"

She glanced around as they all looked at her.

"Let me put it this way, you all heard the horror stories about Menagerie, right?" They all nodded, even Weiss's father, by no stretch of the imagination a Faunus rights activist, viewed what had happened on that island as beyond the pale, "Naxx on a good day made Menagerie look like a happy place to live."

"Ruby, I get that this Naxx place was bad but, I don't think comparing it to Menagerie is-" Blake trailed off their as Ruby fixed her with a look.

"If anything, I'm understating how bad Naxxramas was, if you were lucky, you were turned into a new Death Knight and thrown into the hell we called training. If you were unlucky then you would be fed to the spiders, or experimented on to create new plagues, or used to create abominations, and none of those were quick deaths."

They spent the rest of the short trip answering questions, how many Necropoli were there? (Seven that mattered, countless used to hold the non sapient member of the Scourge) How many people were on Acherus (978 Death Knights, alongside two abominations and an unknown amount of lesser undead that had been on Acherus when they broke free and hadn't been found until after Arthas died) Why were they called lesser undead? (They had intelligence about equal to that of a well trained dog.)

When Summer stepped out of the Airship she was immediately hit by the overwhelming smell of rot. Despite this (and the fact that most of the party was covering their noses) she felt invigorated, and she could see the members of the Knights of the Ebon Blade (was she part of that organization now? She would have to ask.) all stand taller.

One of Ruby and Yang's teammates (the white haired one, she hadn't gotten their names) coughed harshly, "What's that smell?"

Ruby laughed, high and hearty, but with an intoxicated edge, "Were you expecting someplace called 'a city of the dead' to smell like chocolates and flowers?"

It made Summer happy to see Ruby like this, she had spent most of the time Summer had seen her in the past day angry or depressed.

The girl who had come along with Ruby, (it suddenly hit Summer that she didn't know half the people there) who was the only non-undead person not covering her nose looked confused, "Why would it smell like that?"

Laughter bubbled up in Summer's throat, "I think that's the point, dear."

They walked into the center area, the rest of them slowly getting used to the smell.

The blond haired boy yelped loudly and they all turned to look at what he was looking at.

"Uhg."

Summer wasn't sure who said it, but she felt that it accurately summed up what they were looking at.

Fifteen feet tall and massive, it appeared to be stitched together from great swaths of flesh, it's guts were held in by bands of iron and it had three arms. Two sat in the anatomically correct place but a third smaller one sprouted from it's back.

"What is that thing?" this time Summer could tell it was Tai who asked the question.

"That's Ozorg, he's one of the Abominations we mentioned."

Ruby waved towards the towering monster, who waved back excitedly, a look of something resembling joy on its misshapen face.

They walked over to a large skull shaped forge and Ruby turned to her, speaking lowly, "While whether you join this order is up to you, I would like to use the Runeforge on Bloom and Wither, even if it's only for my own piece of mind."

Summer reached to the pair of swords on her back, and handed them to her daughter. Ruby placed them into the mouth of the forge. Energy flowed from her to the skull and, in a matter of seconds, the process was finished. The rust that had gathered from ten years of sitting in disuse had disappeared, and a set of dully glowing runes sat on the blade.

As Ruby handed her back the blades, the sound of heavy footsteps came towards them. Ruby glanced up, "Hello Darion."

As Summer turned around she couldn't help but stare. 'Darion' was massive, standing taller than even Tai and Ruby. He looked at her briefly, before turning towards Ruby, "We need you on the balcony." then he walked away.

They followed him, and as they saw why he wanted them there Ruby's face became stony. Laying on the balcony was what appeared to be a massive man, taller than even Ozorg, and like Ozorg it also appeared to be stitched together from skin, bolts littered it's body. When Ruby spoke, it sounded less like a word and more like a growl, "Thaddeus." Her scythe was in her hand in seconds, the blade a dull grey and jagged.

Pitwick spoke, disgust obvious in his voice, "Speaking of Naxx."

Ruby continued her impression of a Beowolf,  
"He put that walking war crime in MY Fortress!?"

"To be fair, it was Darion's at the time."

Darion cut in then, "What I want to know is why he didn't use it when we took Acherus."

"Because he's a dick! He knew we would find it eventually and he knew it would piss me off!"

Lisa Lavender coughed sharply, "May I remind you, we are still broadcasting?"

As one they glanced behind them, Darion shrugged before turning away uncaring. Ruby did the same, preferring to glare at the tower of flesh before them. Velann looked confused, like she wasn't sure what Lisa was talking about.

Pitwick coughed, "I'm sorry, my dear, it's just… _that_ ," he threw a disgusted look at Thaddeus over his shoulder, "is one of the worst, if not _the worst_ thing to come out of Naxxramas."

"Why?"

"Because," Summer felt a chill run up her spine, and she could tell as angry as Ruby had been earlier, it was nothing compared to how she was feeling now, " _Kel'thuzad_ ," she spat the name like it was the worst insult she knew, "had that thing created from the flesh of still living women and children."

Silence stretched in the wake of that revelation, and Summer felt her stomach drop. How many innocent people had been killed to create the giant of stolen flesh in front of them?

"W-What?" the black haired girl sounded horrified, "Why would anyone do that!?"

"You'll learn that the story of the Scourge has many instances of good people falling as far as we could." Was it just her, or had Ruby stroked her scythe blade as she said that?

Darion raised a question that nobody wanted to answer, "What do we do with it?"

"Darmus? I know it's painful, but can you perform the rites?"

"Of course, lass."

They watched as most of the Knights milling around the area left.

Darmus kneeled down and started to speak, Summer had just enough time to notice Ruby and Darion brace themselves, Pitwick grit his teeth, and Velann screw up her eyes, before her world erupted in pain.

Every nerve in her body burned, and time was a blur. Had she been there for a few seconds or an eternity? She was blind, and could hear cries of worry in the distance.

Everything crashed back into place at once. She was no longer standing, instead curled up in a ball on the floor, whimpering. Tai was standing over her, worry on his face.

"What- What just happened?" It shocked her to hear how weak her voice sounded.

"We don't know, there was this light, and I felt better than I had in awhile but you and the Knights had collapsed. That thing's body also burned away."

As Tai helped her to her feet, and helped her stay there, she looked around, and saw what he had meant.

Velann was seated against the wall. Low moans of pain slipped from her mouth. Pitwick and Darion were on their hands and knees, coughing and wheezing. Ruby had fallen to one knee using her scythe to hold herself up, waiving off her team's concerns.

Darmus had collapsed and wasn't moving, smoke rising from his body.

Ruby spoke, it came out as a rasp, "and that is why Death Knights prefer to be as far away as possible from Light when it's used." She staggered upright, and Summer couldn't help but feel shock, she was barely able to keep herself up with Tai supporting her, and Ruby was walking over to Darmus and checking him.

"I need to apologize, Mom, if I had thought about it, I would have asked you to leave beforehand."

"What was that?"

"Light, it's one of those tricks people from Arthas's home made."

Why-"

"Did it hurt us? Because Light and Undeath have never gotten along. You'll learn soon that your sense of pain has been diluted to the point of almost nonexistence, but Light will always burn."

"If Light doesn't like undead, why was Darmus able to use it?"

"Because that's not how Light works, all it takes to use Light is the belief you can use it."

"That makes it sound like anyone could use it."

"With proper training they could, but all the people who know how to use it are either gone, or undead, who don't want to use it for obvious reasons."

Ruby was in a less ideal scenario. When she had drawn Crescent Rose, the shades appeared. One was an Orc, face painted like a skull, and the other was Arthas. This, had never happened before.

" _Hello, Ruby_." Ruby couldn't help the shiver that ran up her spine. This was a voice who she had never expected to hear again. _How have you been_?"

"What are you doing here, Arthas?"

She didn't speak the words, but somehow they echoed through the grey scaled world.

Arthas appeared behind her, and breathed the next words into her ear, as one ethereal hand covered hers on Crescent Rose's shaft, " _Why wouldn't I wish to speak to my most loyal Knight_?"

Ruby was dimly aware of a discussion going on around her, and her mouth moving on it's own accord even as she carried out this silent argument.

"I was never loyal to you, Arthas."

The laughter that followed chilled Ruby to the bone, " _There's no need to lie, Ruby, it's only us here, and we already know. You never betrayed me, I betrayed you, and if I hadn't done so, you would have served me to the ends of Azeroth. Unlike Jaina or Uther_."

"Shut up! That's not true!"

Arthas crooned in her ear, " _But it is, it's all here in your head. When you left me after Stratholme, it was because Uther brought you with him, not because not because of any hatred of me_." Before Ruby could respond he changed the subject, " _Does it hurt knowing your family will die and leave you alone? That's why you brought your mother back, wasn't it? Because you're scared of being alone? There's a solution to that, you know? All you would have to do is cut them down and raise them. The Helm is nearby, you could command them to never leave you. You could give me a new body, I could help you_."

"Shut up!"

Here the Orc spoke, " **Or you could fight the Burning Legion, this isn't Azeroth, you could open a portal here. Use the Scourge to fight them. Illidan is probably still alive, they are probably torturing him for his betrayal, it's what they did to me**."

"Shut UP!"

Arthas laughed " _Yes, Illidan, I find it shocking that you courted him. I must say you were quite cute in that old outfit of yours, though what you did afterwards wasn't quite so cute, you're quite flexible aren't you_?

"Shut up shutup shutupSHUTUP!"

Ruby heard Blake ask a question, and the answer was torn from her mouth," _You'll learn that the story of the Scourge_ **has many instances of good people** falling as far as we could."

Ruby felt her grip on Crescent Rose tighten as she ran a hand along its blade. As much as she hated it, they both had a point, _**all it would take is a couple of seconds, then they would never be alone again, and they could go save Illidan**_.

BUT DO THEY?

A third voice echoed out, though no specter appeared to accompany it. The voice was interesting in how nondescript it was, not too masculine or feminine, not too deep or high, and not too loud or quite.

YOU BROKE FREE DIDN'T YOU? WHY WOULDN'T THEY DO THE SAME? THEN YOU'LL BE EVEN MORE ALONE THAN IF THEY JUST DIED FROM AGE.

Ruby's grip on Crescent Rose tighten to the point where a dull ache of pain coursed through her hand.

AND WHAT IF ILLIDAN IS DEAD? HE WOULD HAVE NEVER LET THEM TAKE HIM ALIVE. THEN YOU WOULD HAVE KILLED HUNDREDS FOR NO REASON.

The words that came out of next were whispered and broken, "I… I just don't want to be alone again."

BUT YOU AREN'T ALONE, YOU HAD VELANN, DARMUS, PITWICK AND DARION WITH YOU. AND NOW YOU HAVE SUMMER, TAI, QROW, PENNY AND TEAMS JNPR AND RWBY AS WELL.

Ruby felt a warmth wrap around her.

AND EVEN IF THEY ALL

LEAVE YOU, I NEVER WILL.

Ruby's mouth opened again against her will again, but unlike last time, if felt gentle, "Darmus? I know it's painful, but can you perform the rites?"

Ruby briefly wondered why, until she saw Arthas and the Orc grow agitated. The Light would weaken them, give her a chance to force them back into _**Frostmourne**_ Crescent Rose.

She would have to apologize to Darmus and her mother later, by this point she wasn't sure if she could have opened her mouth at all.

When the Light washed over her it didn't hurt as much as it normally did, like being bathed in liquid fire rather than her body destroying itself from the inside out.

She fell to one knee, forcing the two back into the blade. The Orc had a look of resignation on its face, but Arthas had a strange look on his face.

" _You WILL join me eventually, dearest Ruby_." he reached out and stroked her face. " _The Lich King, and Lich Queen."_

She lashed out at his fading form, unintentionally pushing Yang aside.

"Ruby are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

She staggered upright, pain raking through her body, and she wasn't quite sure whether the next words were meant as an explanation for the people there, or a taunt for those in the blade, "And that is why Death Knights prefer to be as far away as possible from Light when it's used."

She walked towards Darmus, apologizing to her mother and answering the questions everyone asked as she checked him over.

She stood up and looked at Darion, "He should be fine, but he probably won't be waking up for the rest of the day. Could you bring him to his room?

Darion nodded, and threw the unconscious Dwarf over his shoulder.

As Ruby started to walk towards the group, her left leg gave out on her and she fell forward. Before she smashed into the ground, Something caught her below her shoulder.

Ruby looked up, at Penny who had just managed to stop a collapsing Death Knight, in full armor, with minimal effort.

When Ruby stood back up she tried to pull away only for Penny to hold onto her arm.

"Penny, I'm fine."

Penny looked her in the eyes, "No, you're not." and refused to let go.

Ruby sighed, "Fine," and allowed Penny to help her along.

She wouldn't admit that it made her happy to have someone to lean on.

Ilyanaria was staring at her doom. Ok, that was an exaggeration, she was going to talk to Highlord Rose, (she had intended to talk to Velann, but had discovered that they were in the same room) but it felt like she was facing her death. Ilyanaria could count the amount of times she had seen the Highlord on both hands.

The stories on the other hand, painted the picture that worried the Night Elf. During the Human's time as one of the Lich King's servants she had personally razed countless villages, leaving no survivors, or any sign there had been a village in the first place. After they had been freed she had built up a reputation of ruthlessness even among the Knights of the Ebon Blade. Necropoli ramming into each other. Entire blighted regions put to the torch. Vrykul thanes bound in chains and fed to hordes of starving Ghouls. It was said that Hell lived in the Pale Horsewoman's shadow.

In the time in between the Lich King's fall and the Cataclysm, she had just seemed to disappear. It was a popular theory that she had thrown herself off the edge of Icecrown Glacier. Or that she had rode into a raging blizzard, laughing at her victory. A third said she had raised a frost Wyrm and flown away. Considering the Dragon skeleton in one of the rooms in Acherus, Ilyanaria was willing to put good money on that one. No matter where she had disappeared to, (They eventually found out she had been hiding in Gilneas, though apparently Mograine and her few friend among the Knights knew where she was from the beginning) a couple of years passed and nobody had seen hide nor hair of the madwoman.

As suddenly as she vanished she reappeared, amongst the Red Dragonflight no less, having been asked to help with Deathwing by one of their members. While more affable (and less likely to destroy anything in her path) she quickly established that two years had not left her soft as she tore the information of what the Black Dragonflight intended to do from one of their members and helped stop the Destroyer.

She had been involved with the messes on Pandaria (acting as a chaperone to the young prince of Stormwind) and Draenor (personally hunting down and killing Garrosh Hellscream)

Then the Legion attacked again, and she had been put in charge of the Ebon Blade.

Which brought Ilyanaria back to where she was now, namely standing in front of one of the most dangerous people in the world.

Ilyanaria desperately prayed that the Highlord didn't knows about her past as Malfurion's student. The relationship between the Druid and Death Knight had been frosty ever since Illidan Stormrage's death, and Ilyanaria was afraid that bit of knowledge would hurt her chances of getting the Highlord to agree.

She squirmed slightly under the piercing silver gaze. This shouldn't have been hard, she had been there when Archimonde invaded, but something about the Highlord set her skin crawling.

"Who might you be?"

The group who had been with the Highlord all looked at her curiously, they had probably never seen a night elf before.

"Ilyanaria Burningsword, Ma'am!"

"What is it you need, as you can see," here the Highlord gestured to the group behind her, "I am quite busy."

"I would like to request to use some of the land granted to the Ebon Blade to start up a settlement."

The Highlord did not speak for a couple of minutes, and Ilyanaria was afraid that she would say no. When the Highlord spoke, her fears were unfounded, "I see no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to, though until we have enough supplies for the Ghouls to finish the wall, you will be responsible for keeping anyone who decides to live there safe from Grimm attacks."

Ilyanaria breathed an audible sigh of relief, "Of course Ma'am, Thank you, Ma'am."

As she started to walk away the Highlord called out to her, "Just a moment!"

"Yes, Ma'am"

A scowl made its way into her face, had Ilyanaria offended her?

"First off, stop calling me 'Ma'am' you're going to be reporting directly to me on this subject." That was probably the last thing Ilyanaria had wanted to here, but was still a small price to pay, "Second, your last name, it's Orcish," here she switched to Scourgish briefly,"Correct?"

"Yes, from my husband."

"When did that happen?"

Ilyanaria knew why she was asking, she had appeared at both of the other wedding that had happened.

"A year and a half ago."

"Ah, I'm sorry for not being able to make it, I was… indisposed, at the time."

That was one way to describe hunting down an undead queen, while mourning the loss of your mate. (That was another thing about the Highlord that terrified Ilyanaria, she was the mate of the Betrayer himself.)

"It's fine."

"Nonetheless, please pass my apologies along to your husband as well, and feel free to use my Ghouls to speed up the process of building your village, think of it as late wedding gift."

Ilyanaria thanked the Highlord again, before setting off to tell Lam'Guld the good news. As she left though, she couldn't help but notice a diminutive girl with black hair in twintails slip down a hall.

The door swung open and Neo's grin split her face, and she laughed aloud, the sound being silenced before anyone could hear it by the illusions of her semblance

The room was filled with weapons and armor of all kind, and Neo made a note to come back and clearly the room out at some point in the future. These were her favorite type of jobs, they made doing what she loved even better.

' _I'll take you,'_ she pointed to a beautifully made gold and silver hammer, though tarnished like it hadn't been used in a long time, _'and you',_ she shifted her finger to an Ax with a circular hole in it, sitting on a pedestal, were those eyes? _'and I'll sell that one!_ "That one" was a massive sword that had an orb with the symbol of a hand on it floating above it. Its pedestal had the words 'For Darion' carved into it.

But that was for a later time, right now she needed to find something for Cinder. She glanced around the room before noticing the fragment of metal bound in chains in a dark corner of the room. The fragment was as long as Neo's lower arm length-wise and about was large enough to go from the edge of her wrist to the center.

It was also, as previously stated, bound in a nigh-comically large amount of chains, like whoever put it in here suffered a sudden bout of childishness. Neo half expected there to be a sign on it saying 'No Touching! This Means You!' on it.

Unfortunately for whomever went through all the trouble, Neo was of the mind that the more someone didn't want you to have something, the cooler it probably was.

In a matter of minutes Neo had unweaved the mass of chains around the fragment and put it in a bag. Hopefully the boss lady would pay big bucks for it, she had nearly been eaten by zombies trying to get it!

With a blown kiss to her soon-to-be possessions Neo slipped out of the room and back onto the ship that had brought them here.

Qrow was in heaven, Ruby had been leading them on a tour of Acherus, and outside of a couple of moments, it had been pretty boring. Then they walked into Ruby's collection of alcohol. Apparently some point along the way, Ruby had started to collect booze from everywhere they had gone in their hunt for Arthas.

There were bottles and casks lining the walls, each clearly labeled with a date and location. Ruby had given him a bottle of wine that was "older than Pitwick, and that is saying something!"

That comment had gotten an empty bottle, apparently leftover from Ruby and Velann's last drinking spree (something that had made Summer level a glare at both of their heads, which was promptly ignored), thrown at her head by the miniature Death Knight.

Lisa Lavender had left in the ship a while back, unwilling, or unable, to stay the night in the massive fortress. Without her there for Ruby to show around, Qrow's niece seemed to decide that there was no harm in cracking open one of the casks. As wine was passed out to everyone, Summer's glare seemed to have grown worse, and she had opened her mouth, probably to lecture her younger daughter about her drinking habit, she was cut off by Pitwick, who shook his head.

"You'll find that everyone of us has our vice, our escape from the horrors of what we were made to do under Arthas's control. She doesn't drink very often."

Summer sighed, only to freeze in horror at the next words out of his mouth, "That's not to say an addiction doesn't exist, but that's Arthas fault, not ours."

"What?"

"Our generation of Death Knights, and you've probably avoided it, Ruby isn't completely mad, have a built in addition to causing pain. You'll notice it, the longer we have gone without a fight, the more likely we are to play with our foe."

"Have you ever-"

"Tried to go cold turkey? A few of us did, it didn't end well."

"What do you mean?"

"They went on a rampage tearing apart anyone who got too close to them."

That was apparently the point where even the saint-like Summer drew the line, as she grabbed the goblet of wine before her and downed it with speed that left even Qrow slightly startled, before walking over to the cask and refilling it.

That had been two hours ago, and now most of the group was unconscious around the room. He smirked as he took a picture of Yang cuddling two-thirds of the rest of her team. The last member of the team was sitting across from him, having dedicated her time to teasing the perky ginger next to her alongside her strawberry blond haired friend.

The moment Cinder touched the fragment that Neo had brought her, she knew something was wrong, her stolen Maiden powers flared to life.

She examined it more closely. There was definitely a power around it, one similar to the glove Salem had given her.

She would need to test it on someone. Emerald and Mercury were too important to her plans, the same was true for Roman, and Neo had proven her worth by slipping into the fortress. Adam on the other hand was perfect, he was easily replaceable, there were hundreds of people like him if not as skilled, and he wasn't vital to her plans.

She went to track down the bull Faunus.

"Adam, dear, hold onto this."

"This isn't going to poison me is it?"

"Of course not, you're much more valuable to me alive than dead.

He took it, a look of irritation on the visible half of his face, having gotten used to orders that made no sense to anyone but her.

As he held onto it, a look of interest made it's way onto his face as he examined the scrap of metal

"Do you mind if I keep this?"

"Why?"

"You got this from Ruby Rose's base, correct?" She nodded, "I want to turn it into a knife to skin her with, so that," here he paused as if looking for the word he wanted to use, "Blake will learn the cost of abandoning the White Fang."

"Very well."

It was only after the terrorist left that Cinder realized that she never said where the fragment had come from.

Adam stalked through the White Fang base, the fragment of Frostmourne in hand.

 _ **Kill them all, they serve more loyally in death.**_

He shook his head, attempting clearing his mind.

He walked into the main area of the warehouse, where a group of humans had been lined up on their knees.

He felt a rush of satisfaction as one of the members sobbed.

He walked in front of the scum, tightening his grip on the fragment of metal.

 _ **Yes, do it! Create your monstrous new weapon. It too will serve me when your soul is mine!**_

Turning towards the gathered Faunus, he spoke, "These humans," he gestured to the group behind him, "have been found guilty of abusing Faunus, paying them less, assaulting them, and standing by, watching, as others do the same."

He turned towards the three, the first, a muscular man who was sobbing like a baby, the second a young woman who was silent, probably too horrified to speak, the third was another man, also silent, but glaring at him.

He grabbed the head of the first man, "Any last word?"

"Please… don't."

"And how many Faunus begged the same of you?"

The fragment tore into his throat and he collapsed.

He turned to the woman, who looked up at him, "I never did anything-"

"And that is the problem." She too died as the blade impaled her.

The third man, glared up at him, "Get this kangaroo court over with already, prove to the world what scum you are."

Adam growled, and brought the blade down, once, twice, after that he lost track, when he came back from the had overtaken him the man looked more like a mass of meat than anything.

 _ **Yes, use your anger**_

Most of the defender's commanders had gathered in the War Room of Stormwind Keep, the only exceptions being Highlord Rose who had last been seen heading towards where the damage was most obvious, and Dudiir who was assisting with the injured.

Nalores had to resist rolling her eyes, they had been there for several hours and they were no closer to a plan on what to do. Several of them wanted to rush out and hunt down the Banshee Queen, while others like her wished to wait for reinforcements from Ironforge.

"If we don't strike now, they will have time to regroup!"

"Lord Greymane, we don't have enough troops, if we go after her now we'll be leaving Stormwind defenseless!"

The smell of burning flesh filled the air alongside a new voice, "If my hunch is right, you wouldn't find them anyway Genn."

As they turned to look at the newcomer the male Tinkfuse let out a whistle, "You look like hell Rose."

In Nalores's opinion, that was a massive understatement. During the war against the Lich King she had spent a month under the Death Knight's command as punishment for an incident involving a Lich's phylactery, a flagon of beer, and a wolvar. In that month she had nearly died eight times, one of the other members of the squad did die, another had been rendered invalid and Rose had never looked worse for wear.

Comparing that to the Rose before her now was quite shocking. The tail coat she had been wearing was gone, the shirt she had been wearing under it was singed, and the left sleeve had been cut away, revealing her arm to the air, or more accurately, the charred mass of muscle and bone that had been her arm.

The shoulder was a dull pink that grew in intensity as it went down her arm to the elbow, below there it started to turn black and bone started to poke through. Her hand was completely black, and the fingers were fused together.

Nalores could see burns slowly lighten as Rose walked to the war table, leaving her to wonder how bad it looked before.

The Highlord glanced down at her arm, "There was a house on fire, and people were trapped inside it."

Apparently that was all the explanation she feels they needed, as she turned to the king of Gilneas, "I need the SI reports on recent Forsaken attacks."

Greymane cocked an eyebrow before grabbing them from a desk near by, Rose took the pile and started to leaf through it with her functioning hand.

Once she was done, she reached for the pins used to mark locations on the map, only to curse as her hand spammed and she fumbled with it.

Lancaster reached for the pins, only for his hand to be batted away by the Death Knight.

"I don't need your help, Donovan."

It always impressed Nalores how Rose could make any name sound like the filthiest in existence.

Rose stuck the first pin in the location corresponding with Stormwind, then she went back through the stacks of reports, placing one pin for each.

Nalores tensed as she saw the pattern, "They're all ports."

"Exactly"

"But, why?"

"They're either looking for something, or trying to keep us from leaving, and seeing as they were bombing the hell out of the docks, I'm inclined to think it's the latter."

"But why? We have the Skybreaker and teleport spells."

"Teleport only works if you know where you want to go, and it will take at least a week for the Skybreaker to get here."

"But we know where we want to go. Lordaeron!"

"Genn think about this, you are Sylvanas, you have no allies in range, there's an army on your door step, and you decide to attack the enemy's capital. Why?"

Silence echoed through the room.

Finally, it was the female Tinkfuse who spoke out, "It's a trap, she's goading us into attacking the Undercity."

"Bingo."

"Who the hell wants you to attack their city?"

"Someone who's abandoned the area."

"What?"

Ruby raised one of the reports, "according to this, the army has been running into an incredibly small number of Forsaken in Lordaeron."

"Then why did they attack?"

"Because she wanted to keep us from leaving, and she wanted to provoke us into attacking the Undercity. Sylvanas is smart, she knows there's no way she could win this war on her own, so she leaves a token force there, we attack it, and either we waste supplies looking for them, or, a plague bomb goes off."

"And where does she go?"

"What's in the direction that they fled? Where would you go if you didn't want someone to have ships?" Rose took out another pin and stabbed it into the map, "She went to the sea, and from there, if I had to guess, to Northrend or Kalmador."


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Just a quick note, there's a revised version of Chapter 2 being released with this.

AN 2: Format got eaten, it's fixed now.

X LINE BREAK X

Glynda frowned as she watched Miss Belladonna get sent flying for the fifth time that day. Ruby had decided to start her half of the deal after they arrived back from her fortress the day before. The first lesson was apparently about learning to relying on their semblance less, with Ruby pointing out that running out of aura in the middle of battle could be disastrous.

Glynda could appreciate the importance of this lesson, it was one she had learned all too well.

It became even more clear why Miss Rose had chosen this lesson rather quickly. While Team JNPR was faring well against Velann Darkfall, who had been shipped back to Beacon as Ruby's "apprentice", which seemed to boil down to some combination of lacky and annoyance. Team RWBY was having a lot more trouble.

Miss Xiao-Long was exempt, as Ruby had correctly pointed out that her Semblance never really deactivated. Miss Schnee and Miss Belladonna, though, were struggling. The Schnee heiress personalized training regimen came back to bite her hard, as she had been trained from the ground up to use her weapon and semblance in unison. The Faunus (had she actually thought she was fooling any of the teachers?) was doing slightly better, but still slipped up on occasion.

Meanwhile, Team JNPR was doing quite a bit better, owing at least partially to most of their members defensive fighting reliance on their semblances in their fighting styles was also only as trump cards or last resort. The only exception to that was Miss Nikos who was subtle in her use of her semblance. Though Glynda doubted that Rose knew what any of the others' semblances were.

Glynda turned to Ozpin, "Why are we allowing these people here again?"

Her boss raised his ever present mug of coffee and took a drink before he answered, "Because it is best to keep them under our eye. Whether or not they are telling the truth, there is no denying they are dangerous, you have seen the reports from the jobs they are sent on."

Glynda frowned, "Those reports are the exact reason I don't want them here, I'm afraid that they will be a bad influence on the students. Look at how Miss Rose is."

The both looked at the screen where Ruby had a savage smirk on her face, having just twisted her sister sister's arm away with the end of the strange dual blade she was using in the place of her scythe, which was sitting on her back.

The headmaster of Beacon sighed, "I know but considering their reaction to Miss Rose bring back her mother, I don't think they are recruiting."

"Their reaction? Outside of that fight, they haven't done anything!"

"Ah, but they have, my dear. It's subtle, they clearly don't want to be seen dividing so swiftly after revealing themselves. But seeing as neither Miss Rose nor Miss Darkfall seem to be very happy about the latter being here, and- in fact- there seems to be a surprisingly small amount of teaching happening in this apprenticeship, I would guess that they sent Miss Darkfall here to make sure that Miss Rose does not do something like this again."

"You have another reason, don't you?"

Ozpin walked over to his desk, and seemed to be pulling up a file,

' _Arthas had a Semblance that allowed him to trap the souls of the people he killed within his sword, Frostmourne, and raise them from the dead.'_

Glynda went silent, her pulse pounding in her ears, "That… That sounds like what happened to Amber."

Ozpin nodded, "Indeed, moreover Miss Rose has confirmed that she was killed by this Arthas, yet," He gestured, to the screen where the match was playing, "She clearly has access to her Aura."

Indeed, the screen showing the students Aura levels showed the Highlord (who made that egotistical title?) sitting at 80%.

"I plan to hopefully gain their trust so they will be willing to reveal how they did this, and hopefully allow us to use it to free the stolen half of Amber's soul."

Glynda nodded, understanding Ozpin's logic.

"There is also the matter of Frostmourne itself."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you truly think that an organization as secretive as the Ebon Blade appears to be would leave the fragments of a soul-stealing blade lying around?

"Secretive?"

"Yes, for every question they answer they leave two more unanswered. Where do they come from? What happened to the rest of Arthas's forces? Where are the forces that helped them eliminate Arthas? Where is this 'Icecrown Glacier'? Where are the 'countless' smaller Necropoli? What exactly is 'Light' and why do undead suffer when they feel it?"

Glynda shuddered as she remembered watching Summer and Ruby's reaction to the light from the broadcast.

Summer had collapsed, shrieking and thrashing, knocking both Tai and Qrow away with strength unnatural to her form.

Ruby had meanwhile fallen to one knee, teeth clenched in pain, as her skin cracked and bled, flaking off like ash. Despite her best attempts, the leader had eventually slipped up, howling in agony.

She shook her head and turned to Ozpin, "Do you have any idea where it might be?"

"Yes."

She waited a few seconds for him to continue, when he didn't she coughed pointedly, "Where?"

"It must be someplace where Miss Rose is confident nobody could steal it, which means it's in a place that is either extremely well guarded, or that she checks regularly."

Glynda searched her mind, trying to think of where that could be.

"Have you noticed, Glynda, that Crescent Rose has a new blade?"

"No-"

Glynda paused. How hadn't she noticed that? Miss Rose's love of her weapon was well known, and she would have drawn attention to such a fact…

"I don't blame you, she seems to be avoiding using her scythe at all. It apparently broke recently, maybe she is afraid to damage the blade again."

No, that didn't seem right. But why was Ozpin bringing it up? They had been talking about where they were hiding Frostmou-

Oh. Of course, the pieces of the puzzle were all coming together. Where would Ruby Rose, who was obsessed with weapons keep the fragments of a powerful weapon, where she was sure nobody could steal it? Especially if she had recently lost her beloved weapon's blade?

"It's always on her."

"Indeed, it's the sort of thing James would approve of. Could you imagine if those two manage to get along?"

She could, both were soldiers, neither was completely human anymore, both dabbled in matters of the soul that would be frowned upon if it ever got out.

"Their enemies wouldn't stand a chance."

Ozpin nodded, "We are lucky she decided to come to us first."

X LINE BREAK X

Peter frowned, as he glanced up at the top of the class.

One week ago that had been the first hint to the old Huntsman that something was wrong, when Ruby had dragged her team to the top of the class, and positioned them at one of the edges, ignoring the protests of her partner.

Every time Peter looked up at the girl, she had her eyes trained on him. Normally this would have thrilled him, but this time it didn't, because Peter was old enough to recognize the look on her face, and it broke his heart.

It was the look of a soldier, not one of the soldiers that James trained, who were Hunters under a chain of command, but an actual soldier who had fought in a war.

Peter hadn't been old enough to fight in the Faunus War, but he did have a cousin who had been, and he remembered how they had acted after, avoiding crowds, staying at the edges of rooms.

He would need to go to Ozpin, alongside Ruby's parents and Qrow, who had both been hired as assistant teachers (though, for reasons that Peter wasn't sure about, Tai-Yang and Qrow were being paid equal to what they had been paid at Signal) about this. But first, he wanted to confirm something.

Quickly wrapping up one of his stories,he spoke, "Before class ends today students, I would like a volunteer to help me."

While several people raised their hands, no doubt eager to fight something, but Peter already knew exactly who he wanted.

"Miss- I'm sorry Highlord Rose," Peter had worked with Bartholomew long enough to know that some people could get extremely irritated at people not using their correct title, "would you be willing to help me."

She was silent for a moment, and Peter was almost afraid she would refuse, before she stood up and walked to the front of the class.

Once she was standing there, she reached behind her back, before pausing above the blade she kept on her back. She caressed the blade, before reaching lower and drawing her scythe. Peter released the quintet of Beowolves and sat back to watch.

Hunters were trained to always add a bit of flare into their moves, it helped connect with the public's belief of Hunters as invincible if it looked like the Hunter wasn't having any trouble with the Grimm.

Which is why what followed was so jarring. There was no flare, no wasted movements, every blow was meant to kill.

The first of the five to die did so within seconds of them being released, it charged at Ruby, only for the blade to ram through it's skull.

The second, third and fourth all fell almost immediately after the first dragged into range by a tendrils of energy, before being swiftly decapitated.

When the blade came around the gun went off, destroying fifth's head.

The entire slaughter took about five seconds.

Peter coughed, "Thank you for that demonstration Highlord Rose." He turned to the rest of the class, "You are all dismissed."

He walked out of the room, intent to talk to Ozpin as soon as possible.

X LINE BREAK X

Pain arched from Velvet's ear as Cardin pulled on it, "Please, stop!"

Cardin laughed aloud, tugging on her ear again, "Why?"

She knew that if Coco was here she would be asking why Velvet wasn't standing up for herself after she got done beating Cardin and his team down verbally. Fox would physically stop Cardin and then berate Velvet for not doing it herself. Yatsuhashi would stop Cardin and then help her with her homework like the big brother that he was.

The truth was that it had become dangerous for a Faunus to stand up for themselves since the White Fang had taken their turn for the worst. It was all too easy to be accused of a member of the terrorist organization. Those sorts of accusation could follow someone for life, and made things very difficult.

A voice called out then, with a strong accent, "Leave her alone."

The man stood about even with Coco and Fox, most of his face was hidden by a sea of hair, only his nose and two glowing blue eyes peeking out from under a mass of tangled black hair, were easily discernible. The cloak that he wore over his other clothing give only a small peek at the armor that he wore.

The leader of Team CRDL scoffed, tugging on her ear again, " Why should I?"

He yelped as the man crushed his arm, forcing him to let go of her ear, "I said, leave her alone."

Was it just Velvet or had his voice just gotten deeper?

Cardin stood his ground, staring down the man, "Why should I? It's not anything worse that what that Rose girl is-"

That had been the wrong thing to say, the man released a roar, and _changed_.

His face elongated, fur sprouting from his body. Claws grew from his fingers as he grabbed Cardin by the scruff of his uniform, slamming him against the the wall, and when he spoke, his teeth had been replaced with fangs.

"Never. Compare. Yourself. To. Ruby. Rose."

The other members of Team CRDL staggered back, and Velvet felt her jaw drop.

He turned around, throwing the leader at his team, "Leave."

They looked at him, shock on their faces.

"I said, LEAVE!"

The last word was roared, spittle flying from his mouth as they scampered away.

He looked over at Velvet as his body shifted back to the form of a human.

"Could you do me a favor and not mention that to Ruby? I only got this job because I promised to watch my temper."

Velvet nodded.

"Thanks, I'm trying to work towards a promotion, but it hasn't been going well."

Velvet found her voice, "Why did you get angry about him comparing himself to Ruby?"

He looked embarrassed, "Highlord Rose saved my mother once, so I owe her one."

He pulled out a pocket watch, "Sorry, I have to go, we're supposed to keep up on our training exercises until Knight-Champion Redbrand recovers."

He jogged away, throwing a wave over his shoulder.

The rabbit Faunus waved back numbly, before turning to find Ruby.

What exactly had Cardin been talking about?

X LINE BREAK X

Ren had noticed something strange, well, stranger than everything else going on.

Maybe it was because of how well his semblance synergized with other people, but Ren had a deep understanding of Aura.

Semblance, as a part of Aura, was usually a reflection of its user, Yang's Semblance was just as volatile as she was, Blake's clones were just as silent and subtle as their creator, Goodwitch's telekinesis was as dominating and unshakable as the woman herself.

He also knew that Semblances could change if their user changed slightly. Ruby was evidence of that fact, the petals that followed in her wake had become scentless and dead after her reappearance.

Ren knew Auras, and he knew something was strange about Ruby's aura, even compared to the other members of the Knights of the Ebon Blade.

The Knight's Aura as a whole looked like someone had taken black chains and bound their aura to their body, leaving imprints across their bodies.

Ruby, meanwhile, still had the chains, but they were… different, they seemed to arch from Crescent Rose's blade around Ruby's body. They also seemed more constricting, like trying to desperately drag the blade and girl together. Finally, the chains were slowly but surely turning a brilliant red, fire licking along them.

"Nora?"

Ren's hyperactive partner turned towards him, a smile on her face, "Yes, Ren?"

"What do you think about all this stuff with Ruby?"

Nora tilted her head to the side, "What do you mean?"

"There just seems so much off about their story, like they're hiding things, Ruby had a boyfriend that she never mentioned? Everything should be going to hell, but-"

A fingertips pressed onto Ren's nose, stopping him in his tracks.

"Of course they're hiding things Ren, they only just got done with something really painful. Remember what I was like after Mom and Dad died?"

He did, Nora was always a cheerful girl, but after her parent's death in a Grimm attack she had been acting unnaturally happy, trying to act like nothing had happened. Watching his best friend go through the motions of everyday life had been one of the most disturbing things Ren had ever seen.

"So, what, you think that she's trying to act like everything's normal?"

She nodded seriously, sometimes it shocked Ren at how perceptive Nora could be.

"Why?"

"Sometimes, it's just easier to hide away from it all, acting like it never happened."

"Then what do we do?"

"We be there for her, she'll tell us what's really going on when she's ready."

X LINE BREAK X

 _Twigs snapped under the hooves of the horse, and there was an unseasonable nip in the air. As Alexandros pulled his cloak around him, he couldn't help but think about how happy he would be when he reached the small farm he owned in Brill._

 _He had been gone for a month now, Uther had asked him for help training some recruits, including the prince and he was glad to be be home for Darion's ninth birthday._

 _He had missed Renault's fourteenth birthday, due to an raiding party of Orcs and was sorry for that._

 _ **Alexandros…**_

 _The Ashbringer froze, turning his head to the side to look at the origin of the ethereal voice._

 _Her skin, eyes and hair were unnaturally pale and she was clad in silver gossamer robes, like someone had taken moonlight itself and weaved it into clothing._

 _ **Come.**_

 _She raised a hand beckoning him forward. Normally, Alexandros wouldn't have agreed so readily, normally he would have demanded answers, but his instincts were screaming at him to follow this strange woman, and they had never steered him wrong before._

 _After tying his horse to a tree, he set out after her. No matter how quickly he moved through the, the woman seemed to be slightly faster._

" _Madame, where are we going?"_

 _She didn't answer, and Alexandros grasped his sword with his undamaged hand, an oath on his lip._

 _He followed her for about ten minutes, when she disappeared behind a tree. He hurried forward, and burst into the clearing. She wasn't there._

 _What was there was a young girl, asleep on the clearing floor. If he had to guess, she was around the same age as Renault. She was wearing a blouse and inappropriately small skirt with a bodice, all in black and red, a red cloak thrown over it._ _She was shivering slightly._

 _Alexandros reached down and shook her gently, "Young lady, you need to wake up, this is no place to sleep." When she didn't respond he wrapped the cloak around her before he unfastened his own cloak and throwing it over her. He reached down and lifted her up, grunting as he did so, "You're heavier than I expected."_

 _The girl didn't respond._

 _The Ashbringer sighed as he walked back towards his horse, wondering how he got into situations like this._

" _You've got a guardian angel looking out for you child."_

 _After about an hour and a half of riding Brill came into sight, and the girl had yet to wake up._

 _He carried her into the main room of the house and lay her down near the hearth, adding another log to it and using the poker to stoke the fire._

 _He walked over to the dresser he had, and reached in, looking for something more presentable for the girl to wear. He gently pulled out a well-worn, but still in fine condition, dress. It had belonged to Elena, and she had wanted to pass it on to their daughter if they ever had one. Alexandros had never had the heart to give it away after her death. He carried it over to the girl, comparing their size, it would work, at least until he could find the girl's parents, or if that failed, someone to take care of her._

" _Dad?"_

 _He turned around to see Darion coming down the stairs, a smile tugging at his lips, "Darion, what are you doing up so early?"_

 _The boy in question rubbed his eyes tiredly, "I heard noises, so I was hoping you had come home."_

 _Alexandros chucked spreading out his arms, "Well, I'm home."_

 _Darion rushed into his father's arm, "I'm glad."_

 _A voice yelped out, causing Alexandros to whip around._

 _The girl was sitting up, looking around, her eyes locked onto Alexandros and she lept up, reaching behind her back pulling out a box that unfolded into a scythe._

" _Who are you, where am I?"_

 _Alexandros gently pushed Darion behind his back, "I am Alexandros Mograine, I found you in the woods outside of Brill."_

 _The girl looked confused, "Where's that?"_

" _Lordaeron." The girl looked more confused, "Azeroth?"_

 _The girl shook her head, confused._

" _Where are you from?"_

 _It was Darion who asked the question._

" _Vale."_

 _Darion stepped out from behind Alexandros, "I've never heard of there before, where is that?"_

" _Darion, get back here."_

" _Remnant."_

 _Alexandros had never heard of there, and was getting the sinking suspicion that it didn't exist, or at least, not on Azeroth._

 _They had learned from an Orc that there was at least one different world out there._

 _Darion walked forward, "What's it like there?"_

 _The girl started to speak, voice shaking as she described the city she lived in, gently lowering her arms as she sank to the floor, Darion sitting down next to her listening._

 _Alexandros watched as they spoke, becoming more and more certain that this girl wasn't from Azeroth, and he pulled out the crystal that the Knights of the Silver Hand used to stay in contact._

 _He couldn't leave this girl alone, and Uther owed him a favor._

 _X LINE BREAK X_

 _Uther pushed open the door, "This is where you'll be staying until a time comes that we find a way to send you back."_

 _The Lightbringer didn't have the heart to tell her that they probably never would find a way._

 _There was just something about this girl that made him want to protect her, with her dully glowing eyes, and enthusiasm for everything. In the day and a half he had know her she had been excited to ride on horseback, to watch the gates be lowered, to see the castle._

 _But at the same time, she seemed too innocent. She didn't seem to notice the way that the Orcs glared at him as he passed, the mutterings of discontent, the guards ready to put down anyone who stepped out of line._

 _After showing her to the quarters in the Silver Hand's headquarters that now belong to her, Uther showed her the rest of the fortress, they eventually got to the training grounds. There a young adult with bright blue eyes and flowing golden locks was in a practice match against an older Paladin and appeared to be winning._

 _Ruby looked interested as the hammer users battled. The weapons were probably simpler than most weapons she had seen but they were good at their purpose, getting through armor and hide to more vulnerable parts beneath. Against Trolls and their like it wasn't any more effective than a sword but against Orcs with their hardened hide and massive muscles it was very effective._

 _Fighting fel magic might have been the purpose of gathering the Silver Hand but it was just a more targeted focus on the spellcasters of the Orc clans._

 _Uther was going to introduced the small crimson wearing girl to his apprentice. Arthas would make a good friend for the girl, especially if the desire to explore that he could see even now continued. Uther smiled, "Arthas come here and let me introduce you to the new ward of the Silver Hand."_

 _Arthas, nearly exhausted from many hours of sparring, looked like he wanted to groan. He did pick himself up though and start toward the two of them. Ruby looked like she wanted to help him, since he was rather obviously exhausted. Uther smiled. Yes, they would make good friends. Arthas would help her with her curiosity and get her used to their people, while Ruby would help him take better care of himself. Uther loved the boy like a son but the way that he always put the people first wasn't always the best choice. Sometimes you had to take care of yourself and those who are yours before you took care of the masses._

 _Ruby perked up as Arthas reached them. Uther introduced the two "Ruby, meet my apprentice Arthas Menethil, Crown prince of Lordaeron. Arthas, meet my new ward Ruby Rose. I hope the two of you make good friends."_

 _Uther watched as the two of them introduced themselves before he spoke, "Arthas, could you show Ruby around, I have thing I need to do."_

 _Arthas nodded, "Of course."_

 _As Uther walked away he could hear Ruby start asking Arthas all the details that Uther hadn't cover. It included things like the other races, the interactions of the Alliance and how the Horde had formed. Uther left the two to their discussion, he had already shown Ruby how to reach her room, so she should be able to find it once she is done._

 _X LINE BREAK X_

 _Jaina cover her mouth, desperately trying to suppress her laughter as Arthas dove back out the door he just walked through, out of the way of the massive ball of fire that had been accidently launched his way._

 _Ruby's face reddened as the prince rose up, a bemused look on his face, "Well, I think you were one of the last people I was expecting an assassination attempt from today, Ruby."_

 _Ruby's face grew even redder, and she seemed to be determined to look at anything other than Arthas and Jaina._

 _It was strange how quickly the sixteen year old had managed to worm her way into their lives, it had been almost two months since Jaina had met the young girl, following behind Arthas like a lost puppy, and it already seemed strange to think it wasn't longer._

 _Finally managing to calm her laughter Jaina spoke, "That was very good Ruby!"_

 _Arthas turned to look at her, laughing slightly, "It was?"_

 _Ruby meanwhile somehow turned her name into a whine, "Jaina! Now you're teasing me too?"_

 _Jaina had to keep from laughing at the pout on Ruby's face, making her look all the world like a kicked puppy._

" _No, no, I'm serious, most beginners wouldn't have been able to make anything half that big!"_

 _It was true, very few fire mages could create anything more than sparks to start off, and considering Ruby's absolutely abysmal attempts at almost every other branch of magic, it was particularly impressive._

 _Arthas spoke up, voice completely deadpan, "It's a relief to know that me nearly being turned to ash was good for something."_

 _Jaina rolled her eyes, "Stop being so dramatic, now, was there something you needed?"_

 _Arthas nodded, turning towards Ruby he pointed a thumb behind him, "Uther was looking for you, something about having promised to show you how to use a hammer."_

 _Ruby gasped excitedly, before rushing out of the room in a flurry of rose petals._

 _Jaina called out after the girl, "We'll continue this tomorrow!"_

 _Ruby reappeared in the room, "Ok, thanks Jaina!"_

 _She hugged Jaina around the waist before disappearing again._

 _Arthas and Jaina locked eyes, before bursting into laughter._

 _X LINE BREAK X_

 _Donovan watched in excitement as the ship pulled into port, the heraldry of the Kingdom of Lordaeron flying from the mast._

 _Donovan had grown up on stories of the second war, and the heroes of it, Anduin Lothar, King Magni Bronzebeard, Admiral Daelin Proudmoore._

 _Personally his favorites were Uther the Lightbringer, and Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner._

 _Donovan had dreamed of being a Paladin for years, fighting the hordes of Orcs, saving maidens from dragons, all those things._

 _And now Uther was here, in Gilneas! King Greymane had allowed a small envoy from Lordaeron into the borders of Gilneas._

 _The twelve year old sat on his father's shoulders, a huge bear of a man, watching as the gangplank was lowered._

 _The first one off was a stuffy looking older man, probably here to carry out whatever this envoy was about._

 _The second person was a Paladin with long blond hair, a polite smile on his face._

 _But the third person..._

" _Look Dad, It's Uther!"_

 _He was even more impressive in real life than in the stories he had heard from the veterans of the war and occasional trader._

 _His eyes were eternally half lidded to keep the glow to a minimum and his hair was starting to grey with age, but it was clear that he hadn't started to grow weaker._

" _Wow…"_

 _Uther whipped around, catching the fourth member of the group as she tripped._

" _Who's that?"_

 _York Carmine, Donovan's best friend spoke up, "Wait, how do you not know this? Even I know who that is, and I don't even like Uther! You're like… the president of the Uther fanclub."_

" _Ok, ok, we get it, you're smarter than me. Now who is she?"_

" _That's Uther's daughter!"_

 _Donovan looked back at the girl, and he could see it, there was a similarity in their faces, and they both had glowing eyes. Plus there was the way that Uther was fussing over her. Even her clothing, a beautiful dress, was made in gold and blue like Uther's armor._

 _He watched as Uther helped her into one of the two carriages waiting for them, the other held King Greymane, who had been waiting, the older man, and the younger Paladin._

 _He couldn't help but think about how graceful she looked._

 _X LINE BREAK X_

" _But seriously, why do I need to wear these stupid lady stilts?"_

 _It had been the seventh time she'd asked since they got into the carriage and Uther smiled and reached over, ruffling Ruby's hair. It wasn't the first time that Uther had convinced Ruby to wear heels but every time she complained incessantly about the 'lady stilts'._

" _I know you hate it, but you are technically part of an envoy, so you need to look presentable."_

" _By tripping all over myself?"_

" _Yes." Uther smiled mischievously, and winked at her. "But it's mostly so that you can learn how to walk in those so that eventually when you wear them they will make you more presentable than you always are."_

" _Well, could the dress have at least been red?"_

 _Uther laughed, "I think that would send the wrong message for this trip. Do you want me to buy you one when we get home?"_

" _What is this trip about anyway? Nobody wants to tell me."_

 _Uther grew silent, he had been trying to avoid mentioning the war around Ruby. He knew that she was aware that something was wrong, his insistence that she not leave the base without a guard had to have tipped her off, but he didn't want to worry her._

" _It's about the war, isn't it?"_

 _Uther sighed, of course Ruby knew, she was a lot more perspective than most people, Uther included, gave her credit for._

" _Yes, Terenas is hoping to convince Lord Greymane to join the war effort."_

 _Ruby squirmed in her seat, before asking a question that Uther really wished she hadn't._

" _Have you gotten any closer to finding a way to get me back to Remnant?"_

" _No, not yet."_

 _In truth, there hadn't been any progress because there hadn't even been any attempt to make any. They couldn't afford to do so, between the war and attempting to rescue the Sons of Lothar, one dimensionally displaced girl wasn't worth the effort. Uther had tried to think of every reason to sway people on this, new allies, supplies, technology, but hadn't had any success._

" _Oh…"_

" _Hey, it will be fine, we'll get you home, I promise."_

" _Yeah…"_

 _Uther searched his mind for anything to change the subject._

" _You never answered my question, do you want me to buy you that dress?"_

 _Ruby laughed, "Sure."_

X LINE BREAK X

 _Terenas watched with some amusement as Uther fussed over Ruby, glad for any sort of relief from thinking about how badly the negotiations with Genn were going._

" _Where have you been? Do you know how worried I was?"_

 _The answer to that question, in Terenas's opinion, was annoyingly so. Though, it had been any other scenario, he would have found it hilariously so._

 _About an hour into the discussions, Arthas had walked into the room and admitted, rather sheepishly, that he had lost Ruby._

 _After that he rushed out of the room promising to return when he found her, probably catching sight of the look on Uther's face._

 _Over the next three hours, during which Arthas had not returned, Uther had become more and more distracted, until Terenas snapped at him to go look for the girl, because he wasn't helping there._

 _This was several hours after that, Uther had been wearing a hole in the rug of one of the room they had been given in (one of) the Greymane Manor, before Ruby wandered into the room, apparently unaware that she had very nearly given Uther a heart attack._

" _I was with Lia- Prince Greymane, he was showing me around the city!"_

 _That made sense to Terenas, from what he remembered of the Gilnean prince he would see no problem with bringing a girl around the city he went to regularly. The boy would be a man of the people, the type that Uther would have loved to have in the Silver Hand._

" _And if I asked Prince Greymane that, he would tell me the same?"_

" _I would, sir."_

 _Uther looked slightly mortified as he realized that the boy in question was standing in the doorway._

" _I apologize for interrupting your moment with Ruby, I just wanted to say that today was quite enjoyable, and was wondering if Ruby would like to come with me to see the rest of Gilneas tomorrow?"_

" _I'd love to!" She looked over at Uther, "If I'm allowed to."_

" _It's fine, just warn someone before you run off next time, please?"_

" _Well then, I will see you tomorrow my friend, and please, call me Liam."_

 _Terenas felt the beginning of a plan hatch inside his head._

" _Ruby do you mind going to your room, I need to speak with Uther."_

" _Sure, I have a book I… borrowed from Jaina I can read."_

" _Thank you."_

 _When she left the room Terenas turned to his friend._

" _What?"_

" _I'm just thinking, Ruby and Liam seem to be getting along."_

" _What are you planning, Terenas?"_

 _Terenas breathed in, "We need this deal, Uther."_

" _What-?"_

" _A marriage between the prince of Gilneas and the ward-"_

 _To Uther's credit, he didn't need to hear the end of the sentence, "No."_

" _Uther, we need all the help we can get."_

" _You have your own daughter, use her, you're not using mine."_

 _Terenas wasn't sure if Uther even realized what he had said._

" _Uther-"_

" _I promised to protect her, what definition of protect are we using that means 'marry her off to someone she met less than a day ago'?"_

" _Uther-"_

" _No, Terenas, I won't let you go through with this, and that is final."_

" _I understand."_

 _It was true, that was why he didn't want to marry Calia off again, he had nearly wed her to Deathwing._

 _And really, now that he thought about it, how could he ask his friend, either of them, to do something he wasn't willing to do himself?_

 _X LINE BREAK X_

 _Shargresh looked at the girl, who was happily chattering away at her guard._

" _I can't believe we're doing this."_

 _Crom looked him, "All we need to do is knock out the dwarf, and grab her. Then we use her as leverage to get the Lightbringer to release some Orcs."_

" _Or, he tracks us down and kills us."_

" _He won't do that, he wouldn't risk us hurting his daughter."_

' _Ancestors forgive me.' Shargresh thought._

" _Fine, let's just get this over with."_

 _Crom moved forward, smashing the dwarf over the head with a club._

 _Shargresh stuffed the cloth in her mouth as she lashed out at him, brushing against his side before Crom pulled her arms behind her back and tied them there._

" _I'm sorry," Shargresh said, as she glared at him, "don't fight, and we'll get you back to your father in one piece."_

 _He felt a nagging sense of guilt as she continued to glare at him._

 _X LINE BREAK X_

 _Ruby worked the dagger that she had managed to steal from one of the Orcs into the ropes keeping her hands together._

 _They hadn't bothered to take Crescent Rose from her, apparently thinking that she wouldn't be able to use it, or not realizing that it was a weapon in the first place._

 _The ropes gave way and Ruby lunged forward drawing Crescent Rose and desperately trying to ignore the horrible pain in her right arm, stemming from a dislocated shoulder._

 _She rushed towards the biggest Orc picturing it as a Ursa and swung the blade behind him._

 _Ruby shook as Crescent Rose fell from her hands, which were slowly being stained an almost black color from the blood leaking out of the Orc's wound._

 _Horrified silver met shocked red before the Orc collapsed, having been nearly bisected by the massive scythe._

' _I… I killed him.'_

 _Ruby sank to her knees, staring at her hands, uncaring to the world around her._

" _Duraro!"_

 _Ruby was torn back to the present by one of the other Orcs grabbing her by the neck, lifting her up, he started to squeeze._

" _You killed my brother!"_

 _Ruby lashed out, every instinct in her screaming at her to fight, but it was useless, the Orc was just too big, and Ruby had never been good at hand to hand combat, that had always been Yang's thing._

 _Yang… Ruby felt hot tears slide down her face as she realized that she would never make it home. Never see Yang, Weiss, Blake, Uncle Qrow, or her father again._

" _Crom, this wasn't the plan, she was only supposed to lure out the Lightbringer."_

" _That was before she killed my brother, Shargresh!"_

" _She was defending herself! Ancestors, she was scared, we kidnapped her!"_

 _Ruby worked her mouth furiously, desperately trying to say something to the enraged Orc. A rhythmic beating noise was swiftly growing in intensity._

" _I don't care why she did it! SHE KILLED MY BROTHER!"_

 _Ruby could see the Orc, Shargresh, step forward. The noise had gone silent._

" _PUT HER DOWN!"_

 _Two other Orcs grabbed onto Shargresh, holding him back._

 _Crom turned to Ruby a nasty grin on his face, "Where's your father now?"_

 _As Ruby's vision slowly faded away, she couldn't help but wonder what he meant by that._

 _Suddenly the vice around Ruby's neck was broken and Light flooded her vision._

" _LEAVE HER ALONE YOU DAMN ORC!"_

 _Ruby lay there, gasping for breath as fighting raged around her._

" _FALL BACK!"_

" _Alexandros, let go of me!"_

" _We'll go after them, you stay here with Ruby."_

" _...Thank you."_

" _You would have done the same if it was Darion. Arthas, Ballador, Grayson, Maxwell! Let's move!"_

 _The noise restarted, and Ruby realized that it was the sound of horse's hooves. She heard the sound of footsteps on gravel and the Light grew in intensity._

 _She basked in the Light, feeling the wounds she had accumulated in her week in captivity rapidly heal as the figure reached down and set her shoulder back in place._

" _Ruby, can you hear me?"_

 _Ruby felt tears prick at the corner of her eyes, "Uther?"_

 _The Light faded, allowing her to see the greying brown hair of her guardian, "I'm right here."_

" _I didn't think you were coming."_

 _Uther reached down and brushed some of the hair out of her eyes, "Of course I was coming, I just wanted to get some help first."_

 _Ruby started to sob, "I was so scared."_

 _Uther pulled her into a hug and she buried her head into the mantle he wore, "I'm sorry, I got here as fast as I could."_

 _Ruby felt something drip on her, and she realized with a shock that Uther was crying._

" _What-"_

" _You nearly died."_

 _They sat there for a while until Uther asked a question._

" _Did they say why they took you?"_

 _Ruby thought back to what they had said._

" _I think they thought I was your daughter."_

" _You are my daughter."_

 _Ruby went quite, not sure how to respond. Uther had taken care of her in the nine months she had been on Azeroth, but it felt like calling him her father was betraying Tai._

 _Eventually she settled on tightening the hug, "I'm your daughter."_

 _The pair sat there for a while longer, before Ruby spoke._

" _Can we go home now?"_

 _Uther smiled at her, "Of course."_

 _He helped picked her up, and carried her over to Steadfast._

 _X LINE BREAK X_

 _Darion watched as Ruby practiced with her scythe, it was like watching a dance, every step had a role, each move flowed into each other. Sweat dripping down her arms, glistening as the sun hit them._

 _The nine year old jumped as a voice spoke out, "Watching your crush again, Darion?"_

 _Darion turned to glare at his older brother, "I don't have a crush!"_

" _Then why is it that every time we come to_

 _Lordaeron, you end up watching Ruby practicing?"_

" _She's just so good at fighting, no matter what weapon she's using, she always knows exactly what to do."_

 _Renault's grin grew even wider, "Yeah, you totally have a crush on her."_

" _No, I don't!"_

" _Then why don't we go over there and you can tell her how much you like her weapon skills?"_

" _No!"_

 _Renault laughed, "Ok, whatever you say."_

 _X LINE BREAK X_

 _Alexandros shared a look with Lady Proudmoore as Uther paced around._

" _Lord Uther, have you actually tried to talk to Ruby?"_

 _That was the source of the problem, Ruby hadn't been out of her room since her birthday a week ago, and everyone had started to worry about her._

" _No, what if she's angry at me?"_

 _The Ashbringer sighed, before standing up and grabbing his friend._

" _Well, best find out now, rather than later."_

 _Lady Proudmoore was in the lead, and knocked on the door._

" _Ruby? Can we come in?"_

" _yes…"_

 _Alexandros frowned, in the year he had known the girl he never heard her so down._

 _As the door swung open, the frown grew even worse. Ruby was curled up on the bed, her glowing eyes being the only sign of her location in the dark room._

" _Ruby you've been in here for the last week, is something wrong?"_

 _Ruby nodded, and Lady Proudmoore walked over, gently sitting on the bed._

" _What's wrong little Rose?"_

" _I'm never going to get home am I?"_

" _Oh, Ruby."_

 _Alexandros watched as Lady Proudmoore ran her fingers through Ruby's hair._

" _It's been a year and you all haven't made any progress getting me home."_

 _Alexandros looked at Uther, who looked shocked, apparently realizing, just as he had, how badly being away from her family hurt Ruby._

" _We are working on it Ruby."_

" _You keep saying that."_

 _Alexandros breathed in, before speaking, "Ruby, we are trying to find a way to get you home, but even if we don't, you have a family here."_

" _I do?"_

 _Jaina pulled Ruby into a hug, "Of course, you do. You have me and Arthas, and Alexandros and his kids, and Uther."_

 _Here Ruby pulled out of the hug and looked over at aforementioned Paladin, who spread his arms, catching her as she dove into his chest, making Alexandros glad he wasn't wearing his armor._

" _I guess I was being really silly, huh?"_

" _Of course not, Ruby. There's nothing wrong with missing them, and we're not going to stop looking for a way back."_

" _Yeah."_

" _Come on, we still need to get that dress fitted for you."_

 _Ruby laughed, wiping her eyes._

" _Ok."_


	6. Chapter 6

James was pacing, he finally had time to call Oz and ask what was going on and he wasn't picking up.

"Come on, Oz, pick up already!"

This was the problem with trying to contact someone on another continent, it was extremely hard to coordinate times they were both free.

It was, in his opinion, the main reason behind him and Glynda breaking up.

When the screen finally shifted to show his partner's face, though, James's irritation faded away, replaced with worry.

"Are you alright, Oz? You don't look so good."

The Headmaster's skin had a sickly sallow appearance, there were shadows under his eyes, his glasses were askew, and his normally impeccable suit coat was ruffled.

"Yes, I'm fine James I've just," here he stopped, yawning loudly," I've just been busy."

"What's wrong?"

"Several things. First, I'm searching for any information on the known members of the Knights of the Ebon Blade, which is why you are calling I'm sure. Don't look at me like that James, I'm not a fool. Second, there has been a rash of disappearances."

"Do you think-"

"That the Ebon Blade is behind them? No, there have been no sign of them near any of the locations. Best we can tell? The White Fang has taken another turn for the worse."

"Right, you said you had been looking for information on them?"

"Yes, but I haven't found anything."

"Do you mind giving me a quick run through, anyway? I want to know what we're dealing with here, Oz."

"Of course, I'm sending the files over now."

The first was of a girl, in both her hair was cut short, and her eyes were silver. That was where the similarities ended, in one, she had a cheerful grin on her face, in the other a scowl, in one she was short, the other tall. There was also a picture of an exposed arm, tattoos, glowing a sickly green, in some form of repeating pattern, went down it until they converged at the palm of the hand.

"This, is Ruby Rose, Qrow's niece, and the head of the Ebon Blade, though they use the title of Highlord."

"Qrow's niece? How'd he drop the ball this badly?"

"If she's telling the truth, I also dropped the ball."

"How?"

"The picture on the left was her two days before she disappeared from Beacon's campus, the picture on the right is when she reappeared six days later."

"Why was she at Beacon?"

"She's a student here."

"Right, what do we know about her?"

"Whatever else she is keeping from us, there is us no denying that she is dangerous, every time we've seen her fight, she is either playing with her foe, or tears them apart with brutal precision."

"Whats with the tattoos?"

"I don't know, I only discovered them yesterday, I'm not even sure how much of her body they cover."

"They remind me of Dust Tattoos."

Dust Tattoos were a much more archaic way of using Dust, while they allowed you to keep a weapon on hand at all time, and often afforded varying boons to the user, they had an unfortunate tendency to destroy the body over time. A Huntsman who used Dust Tattoos would tend to see their body give out in their forties, while one without could fight well into their sixties, if not later. Despite the drawbacks, some felt that it was worth the risk and used them anyways.

"I had thought something similar, but they don't correspond with any know dust types, and she isn't showing any discomfort wearing her armor. Also from what she has said the people she interacted with had different ways to power then Dust and Aura."

"We'll need to look into this."

"Of course."

"Who's next?"

The next was a man, once again, there was two pictures, but in this case, they were a lot more similar, the only difference being the clothing, one wearing a shirt and pants, allowing his red hair seem, and the other wearing a mass of heavy armor.

"Darion Mograine, he appears to be Ruby's second in command, holding down the fort at their base, Acherus. Comments from Ruby seem to imply that his father worked with Ruby."

"What has she said?"

"She has mentioned an 'Alexandros Mograine' on more than one occasion."

"Any idea what happened to him?"

"If I had to guess, I would say he is most likely dead."

"Why's that?"

"Ruby refers to Darion as having taken his father's place."

"So he's a no go?"

"Most likely, yes."

The third man was stout and stocky, with a massive black braided beard.

"Darmus Redbrand is the head of the team that I allowed onto Beacon's grounds, he is currently indisposed after an incident a week ago."

"Anything else?"

"No, he doesn't appear on any of the Kingdoms' registries."

"Damn."

"I'll warn you now, _none_ of the known members outside of Ruby Rose appear on the registries."

"That shouldn't be possible, there is no way that many people could slip through the gap!"

"Unless they aren't from the Kingdoms."

"That makes no sense, it's unlikely people would be able to survive outside the Kingdoms!"

"Unlikely, yes, but not impossible, with the amount of unexplored land on Remnant it would be completely possible for them to survive without making contact with us, especially if they do not have a CCT."

"Good point, who's next?"

The picture switched to that of a miniscule old man, with balding grey hair and a mustache.

"This is Pitwick Blackneedle, he is in charge of the Ebon Blade's forges and building, the most contact I have had with him is when they order supplies for the wall they are building around the area we gifted them."

"He's tiny."

"Yes, apparently one of the mutations caused by his revival."

The next picture was of another woman, tall and willowy, her ears were extremely long, extending over her strawberry blond hair.

"I'm not sure what Velann Darkfall does, but I suspect that she got her position at least partially because she reminds Miss Rose of her sister. She is apparently Miss Rose's apprentice."

"A potential weak link?"

"I doubt it, the other members of Miss Rose's inner circle apparently have enough sway with her to stop her from doing that if they felt that Miss Darkfall would weaken them."

The next was also tall and willowy, but her skin was a bluish color.

"The newest member is Ilyanaria Burningsword, a name that is apparently," here Oz played a voice clip, it sounded less like a word and more like someone making a wet hacking noise, "whatever that was, She is building a town."

Ilyanaria was swapped out for a extremely tall woman, with dark blue skin and fangs bursting from her lower lip.

"This is one of the members of the team at Beacon, Zaala, she didn't give a last name, and I doubt anyone would recognize her even if she did."

She was replaced with a pair of pictures, one was of a man, wearing heavy armor and an all encompassing mantle, the other was a massive bipedal wolf, wearing the same clothing.

"York Carmine has the ability to shift into a giant wolf. He apparently owes Miss Rose for saving his mother."

"So we can't use him?"

"No."

"Damn."

Finally there was a giant man, another blue colored skin, with hooves and a beard of tentacles.

"Finally we have Malag, seeing as he appears to be Darmus's apprentice, he also will not be any help."

James ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "Do we have any way to infiltrate them?"

"Yes, Miss Rose made friends with one of your students before her disappearance, one Penny Polendina, we were hoping to use her to keep an eye on them."

James went silent, as much as he didn't want to risk Penny, this was too important to do otherwise.

"You go get some rest, I'll call her."

"Thank you James, I'll see you in a week."

As the two Headmasters hung up, James pulled up another number.

"Penny? I need you to do something for me."

X Line Break X

Blake watched the spar going on in the arena with a critical eye. Combat, especially Huntsman to Huntsman combat, was something she had learned to specialize in during her time with the White Fang. As usual since Ruby's return she was fighting with the glaive that she had brought back with her, instead of her beloved scythe. But something about the way that Ruby was fighting bugging her.

Finally she realized what it was, "There should be two of them."

Velvet and the girl that came with her turned towards Blake, alongside the rest of Team RWBY, JNPR and STQ, the sunglasses wearing girl nodded, "You caught it too?"

"Yeah, that weapon is part of a pair."

It was hard to catch, but the way the weapon was designed gave it away, there was no easy way to defend the half of the body that it was on, implying that it was designed with the intention of being used with something else to protect it.

But where was the other half?

"Do any of you know where she got that?"

They all shook their heads, and Blake stood up, walking down towards the arena.

The match was going to end soon, she could see the exhaustion slip into the Invincible Girl's form. The title made her want to roll her eyes. It was something that the media loved to do, writing people as unstoppable. It was one of those things that threw the difference between Huntsmen and the world they protected into a sharp contrast. Good Huntsmen were aware, to some degree, that every mission could be "the mission", that there was no such thing as "Invincible."

The sad thing was, when that many people started to say something about you, there was a very good chance that you started to believe that. Blake remembered what happened to the _last_ media darling, Sorrel the Unbreakable. He was a Bull Faunus famous for winning the Huntsman trainee bracket without any training for two years in a row, he had attacked a pack of Grimm that raided his town, only then had the flaw in his style become glaring.

Sorrel didn't know how to fight, he mostly relied on his prodigious amount of Aura to soak up blows while his enemy tired themselves out. While that was fine for fighting a human, against the creatures of Grimm, it just didn't work.

The group of White Fang sent to the village to recruit him, instead found him thoroughly broken, his body torn to pieces, with only the massive tattoo of an Oxen he had on his back allowing the identification of his corpse.

It was something many people forgot about Aura, it wasn't a catch all. Attacks of enough strength could leak through, and there was often a trade off, somebody who's Aura made them insanely strong, might not be able to move as quickly as other Huntsman, or someone who specializes in using Dust might not be able to take a hit. The legends and prodigies, like Ozpin or Goodwitch as a modern example, had been famous not for their semblances or aura capacity but for their skill.

This lesson seemed to built around destroying any notion that Pyrrha had that her title actually meant anything. Neither side was wearing armor, instead wearing light clothing. Pyrrha was left desperately trying to dodge the blows from her faster opponent. To Pyrrha's credit, she was doing much better than anyone else had done while facing Ruby, having only been nicked a couple of times.

The tattoos on Ruby's right arm flared to life, and she threw out a cloud of green smog that struck Pyrrha in the face, causing the redhead to drop to her knees, hacking up a lung.

As the match ended, Blake locked eyes with her team leader.

"What?"

Blake gestured to the glaive, "Where'd you get that?"

The change in the silver eyed girl was immediate, and obvious, a strange look came over her face, a combination of sadness and fondness.

"It was Illidan's…"

Blake grew quiet, the subject of Ruby's mysterious boyfriend had been danced around ever since she apparently blew up at her mother.

"If you have a question, Blake, ask it."

"I don't want to-"

"Blake, you're pitying me, I _hate_ being pitied, so get on with it already."

"Who _was_ Illidan?"

Ruby was quiet for a moment, and Blake was worried that she had offended her friend, before she spoke, "Sorry, I'm just trying to think of a way to describe Illidan without…"

She trailed off, gesturing slightly, only for Velann, who had been refereeing the match to speak up, "Without admitting that he was kinda a raging narcissist?"

Ruby threw a glare at the other woman, "What, it's true! Illidan's priorities were, his ego, you, and Tyrande and not necessarily in that order. As far as he was concerned the rest of the world existed for the sole purpose of validating his ego, or making sure you two were safe. I'm almost certain that he only sacrificed himself because it would leave the world no choice but to admit that something he did was worthwhile, and because if he didn't do it, you would have."

"Shut up!"

Velann raised her hands and sighed, a universal gesture for surrender.

Blake watched the two friends bicker, before speaking up, "You really cared about him, didn't you?"

Ruby shrugged, "I miss him more now."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think either of us entered that relationship expecting an emotional piece. It just sort of grew into that. We were in the middle of a war where we knew that there was a very real chance of we could end up fighting each other."

Blake could feel her cheeks tingling as she blushed, "So, it was, uh-"

Dust, this had gotten embarrassing rather quickly.

"You're a smart girl Blake, I'm sure you know what it means."

Blake knew _exactly_ what it meant, her more… adult literature often used similar plots.

"So, it was mostly about the sex?"

She heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like someone spitting out a mouthful of alcohol. Fire also seemed to be igniting rapidly, with the sound of steel leaving a sheath not far behind it. She was also sure that she had just heard the sound of her partner arming her gauntlets.

" **WHAT**!?"

Several voices cried out at once.

Ruby glanced up, apparently remembering that her family was there, before pulling out her scroll.

"Uh, I just remembered Darion wanted to talk to me," she clapped Velann on the shoulder, "Velann, you deal with this, ok? Ok!"

"Ruby don't you-! And she's gone."

Blake looked over at the stands, where most of the gathered group were looking in anger, and Velvet and her friend slipped out of the room.

This was going to be one of _those_ days wasn't it?

X Line Break X

"What did you need to see me about Darion?"

That, at least, hadn't been a lie, Darion _had_ wanted to speak with her.

"A man came to us earlier, he said he wanted to make a deal with us."

"A deal?"

"Information, for protection."

Ruby hiked up an eyebrow, "You do know you could have done this yourself?"

"I did, I wanted to talk to you about what he gave us."

Darion handed Ruby an envelope, that when she turned over, released a spill of photos.

As she looked through the pictures, her face became more and more stone-like.

"Is he still here?"

"Yes, I thought you would like to talk to him."

He opened the door, allowing in a man with dark hair and sideburns.

"Hello, Mr-?"

"Tukson."

"Mr. Tukson. You came to us for protection in return for this information correct?"

"Yes."

"And Darion has given it to you, correct?"

"Yes."

Ruby leaned in close, staring the man in the eye, "I would like to sweeten the deal, you tell us exactly where these photos came from, and in return, I will not only let you stay on our property, but I will personally assign one of my Knights to guard you. If not, I completely understand, the original deal will stand, you will be allowed to remain here, or in the village below."

"The White Fang."

"Which location Mr. Tukson, please this is very important. More important than I can probably ever convey." 

"I can't."

Ruby held the man's gaze for a bit longer, before nodding, "Very well, thank you for this information Mr. Tukson, even this is a great help to us. Please, feel free to look around, I would personally suggest staying in the village, but if you would prefer to stay in Acherus itself, that can be easily arranged. If you would excuse us, I need to speak to Darion alone for a moment."

They both left the room, heading for the center of Acherus.

"They're using Necromancy."

"I know Darion."

"We need to stop them."

"I _know_ Darion"

"What should we do?"

"I want you and the Four out in Vale looking for White Fang bases, the minute you find one, call me."

"You think we'll be lucky enough to find it?"

"No, but whoever is in charge might know the place we are looking for."

Darion stared at her for a moment. He then said "Are you sure that you want them to be released?"

Ruby didn't look at him but did answer "We might not have any other choice."

The hidden chamber in Acherus burst open, revealing Ruby's greatest sins. The Highlord grasped the nearest person's forearm, the highest she could reach.

"Wake up!"

Eyes flickered open and a deep booming voice spoke, "Hello, Deathlord, what can I do for you?"

"Don't call me that!"

"Oh? Have you come to claim your crown then?"

Ruby's eyes looked to the center of the room, where a helmet and armor sat, frozen in ice. Only the people in the room knew what sat as a mockery of a heart within the chest of the armor, or that the armor acted as a mockery to the heart of Acherus, well, there was one other person, but he was on a different planet with his sister.

YOU DON'T NEED IT, NOT YET.

"No, I have a job for you four."

"And what," spoke another voice, deep and guttural, "could that be?"

"I need you four, alongside Darion, to go into Vale-"

A third voice cut in, "A job with Darion? Did I ever tell you I was good friends-"

"With his brother? Yes. A thousand times, you've told us all about your damn parody of Uther's order."

"Let the girl speak, Trol'kalar, there is little else to do in this room."

"Yes, listen to the General! I-"

A fourth voice roared out, sending a dagger of shame through Ruby's heart, because he was the last person who deserved the role she had made him play, "SILENCE!"

Everyone else grew quite, "Good, now, Ruby was detailing our mission."

She breathed in, thrusting the shame down until she was out of the room, "Your mission is to go into Vale and track down a White Fang base, once you find it, you are to alert me, and we shall attack it, and hopefully capture the leader of the base, from there we will bring him here and I interrogate them."

"Very well, if those are your orders, Deathlord."

A Death Gate was opened, and they all shuffled through, as Ruby entered it, she desperately hoped Velann had dealt with the bombshell she had accidently set off.

X Line Break X

Ruby was _so_ going to be paying for the next few visits to the bar.

It was a long standing tradition between Velann and her friend, whenever one of them screwed the other over, they were responsible for paying for the booze need to forget it.

And Ruby had just fucked Velann over, fucked her over _hard_.

The Quel'dorei didn't get what all the fuss was about, Ruby had sex, so what? She knew that Quel'Thalas certainly had a hedonistic edge (that only because worse after the destruction of the Sunwell) but it wasn't that different from everywhere else… right?

"Would you all calm down?"

She was ignored as most of the gathered group (all except Blake and Ren) planned elaborate, and in some cases impossible, ways to track down Illidan's corpse and mutilate it.

"Why aren't you two joining in?"

Ren shook his head, "It's not my place to tell Ruby what to do with her life. Also while I'm her friend, I'm not quite as close as they are to her." He motioned to the crowd currently angrily discussion how to train Zwei (who was that?) to hunt for Illidan and bring them to his corpse. It was angrily because they all had a different method of doing it.

Blake, on the other hand, bit her lip, "I understand where Ruby's coming from." She met Velann's eyes, "You knew Illidan, right?"

"Knew is a bit of a strong word."

It was true, despite how often the Demon Hunter went to Acherus, or the Highlord to the Fel Hammer, they rarely spoke to anyone other than each other during those trips.

"He never… He never hurt her, did he?"

Velann blinked, catching the apprehension in the Faunus's voice. Filing it away for later, she thought about the question.

Velann doubted it. Ruby, despite her questionable self worth at times, tended to jump to violence anytime something that could remind her of Naxxramas showed up, and something like that would definitely remind her of Naxxramas.

Plus there was Illidan's tendency to wear shirts after one of their 'sessions', and the… _interesting_ contents of the box Ruby had placed in storage shortly after Illidan's death.

"I think the worst thing Illidan ever did to Ruby was die."

"Then I don't see any reason to go destroy his body."

Velann looked back over as Yang made some rather explicit gestures of what she would do to Illidan's body when they got their hands on it.

Velann was so happy it was Ruby's birthday tomorrow, she really needed something to drink right now.

Plus, any excuse to party (and the there _would_ be a party, her, Pitwick, and Yang had already finished planning it) was a good excuse to party in Velann's book.

But first…

"ALRIGHT CALM DOWN ALREADY!"

... she needed to deal with this.

X Line Break X

The Fourth Horseman slipped into the room, hiking an eyebrow at the unconventional way it was set up. He walked over to one of the beds, looking at the inhabitant. Taking off one gauntlet and reaching over, he gently ran his hand over the set of raised set of bumps on her eyelid, remnants of her punishment for her greatest moment of defiance to Arthas before the battle of Light's Hope.

"Why didn't you wait?"

It was a question that had haunted the old Death Knight's dreams for years, ever since he had burst into the house that night, intent to follow Uther's last request, only to learn she had snuck out the the night before.

She shifted, reaching out for a weapon to save her from whatever terrors haunted her dreams.

He stroked her hair, the way Uther and Lady Proudmoore would, back when everything had been easier. A lullaby, one that he had sung to his son, slipped forth.

She slowly began to settle down, and the grey haired man couldn't help but think how _young_ she looked. It was easy to forget that Ruby had been seventeen when she died, she held herself in a way that always made her look several years older.

Slipping out of the room, he started to walk down the hall, intent to carry out his mission, only to whirl around, reaching for Ash- his sword when a voice spoke out.

"She blames herself, you know?"

"Darion! Don't do that!"

"Of course. Walk with me?"

They walked out onto the balcony, staring up at the shattered moon.

"What did you mean, she blames herself?"

"For running off. And for raising you."

"She was young, and she had just lost someone important to her." At that point the second part of what Darion said registered, "Why? It was Bolvar's idea."

"But we probably wouldn't have succeeded if it hadn't been for her."

"Really?"

"Yes, I had intended to attack the base, but she went in, and traded Terenas's urn, and Uther's hammer for your body."

"I thought Ruby had Uther's Hammer in her vault?"

"They gave it back, after we stopped Sylvanas."

"Why?"

"Do you remember when I tried to use Ashbringer at Light's Hope, and it refused to listen to me?"

"Of course."

"Something similar happened there, it refused to work for anyone other than her."

"Ah."

It made sense, Uther's hammer had been forged in Light, and used with it for over forty years. If any weapon would gain a mind of its own, it would be that weapon.

"I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"When this job is over, don't go back into that vault, I have the feeling we will need you soon enough."

"The Lich-"

"-King is dead, and his chosen successor has no intention of putting on the Helm at this point."

"A man can hope for his queen to take their role."

"I still don't know why Azeroth let there be another one after Bolvar died."

The Fourth knew, he had been informed of Azeroth's plan before hand, but he had sworn to keep it a secret to all but the wearer of the Helm.

"A good question, very well, we will stay out."

Despite Ruby's guilt over what she did, he was fine with it.

If Tirion Fordring couldn't save her in life, he would serve her in death.

X Line Break X

Yang looked around, watching as her fool-proof plan to separate Ruby from the Ebon Blade collapsed around her.

She knew it was underhanded to use Ruby's birthday party for something like this, but the more she learned about the order, the more she became convinced that it was extremely unhealthy for Ruby to stay around them.

The plan was simple, invite some of Ruby's friends from Signal over (both schools were on break) for the party, and hopefully it would remind Ruby that there were things in life other than the Ebon Blade. She had said that was the first step that she had taken that ended up freeing her from Arthas, right?

Wrong. Ruby hadn't even seemed to realize that her Signal friends were even _there_ , and when she had, barely spoke to them, preferring to spend time with her friends from Beacon, or the Knights.

Despite this, the party itself was going well, drinks were drank, cake was eaten, songs were sung, and everyone was having a good time.

Eventually, it came time to open the presents, and that made quite an impression. While Ruby's friends from Signal (Yang felt slightly sheepish that she couldn't remember their names) gave her a couple of 'girly' things, a set of shampoo and conditioner that Yang knew that Ruby liked, most of it was a variety of guides and supplies for weapon engineering. Ruby smiled, thanked them and promised to read through them… if Pitwick didn't steal them before she could.

The old man just laughed, not even bothering to deny the accusation. From what Weiss had said about him it was probably close to the truth.

The next gift, from Ren and Nora, was a large set of ammo, in a vast variety of types. A very "safe" gift, but one Yang could tell Ruby appreciated.

Jaune's present was another look into how the Ebon Blade worked.

"Chivalry and Honor?" Ruby asked looking at the book. Jaune rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, Pyrrha recommended it to me, I thought you might like it, because you call yourselves knights, and-"

"Thank you, Jaune."

While Yang could tell she was being sincere, the _other_ members of the Knights seemed to have vastly different reactions.

Velann had suddenly become very focused on her drink, a muscle jumped in Darion's jaw, like he was resisting the urge to laugh or scowl, and Pitwick's mutterings of "Fuck honor," under his breath made his opinion clear. Darmus however, seated in a wheelchair (apparently whatever he had done with the Light had really screwed him up) nodded, "Nothing wrong with honor, son."

Pyrrha's gift was a book on rule and regulations for arena fighting, something Ruby had been asking about, apparently trying to learn what she was allowed to do.

Penny, who had been invited along through unknown means, gave Ruby a book on robotics (Yang was almost certain she saw Pitwick slip that gift away the minute Ruby put it down.)

Blake gave Ruby a complex weapon cleaning kit, good for Crescent Rose, with its many moving parts, and an anthology of legends and fairy tales, that caused Ruby to look at Blake.

"You said that Yang used to read things like that to you. I wasn't sure if it was the real you or the fake you, but I decided to grab it anyway."

"It's great."

Pitwick spoke up then, "Did I tell you that Thassarian had started to write a book before we left?"

"He had?"

"Yeah, he wanted to put down his memories about the Ebon Blade."

Thassarian was one of 'those' names, mentioned in passing, and clearly still alive, but rarely brought up. Some of the Knights regarded him well, others spoke of him in envy, but with Ruby any mention of him cheered her up.

Weiss went next, and her gift was a supply of dust (predictably) and a ring.

It was large, obviously meant to be worn on the thumb, and was a black color, with a small red gem in the center.

"It's a dust crystal, I figured even a dolt like you couldn't cause too much damage with something that small, and seeing as you're not opposed to wearing jewelry," she gestured to the ring on Ruby's left index finger, a sword with writing in the same way as any of the Ebon Blade's weapons, "I thought you might find it useful, especially if you run off again."

Like hell that would happen on Yang's watch.

Ruby slipped it onto her finger, before testing the range of movement, "It'll take a bit of time to get used to, but I love it."

Uncle Qrow's gift would come later, he'd be helping her modify Crescent Rose, adding another form, putting it equal with Miló as one of the most advanced weapons on campus.

Yang breathed in, hoping that Ruby would like her, Tai, and Summer's gift, it was simple, but something she knew she liked.

Ruby stared at the box of cookies, quiet.

"They're from that bakery you like in Patch, you know, the one near the center of town?"

Ruby remained silent, and Yang started to worry.

"Rubes? If you don't like them, we can get-"

Ruby reached down, taking one of the cookies out and biting into it.

After she was finished with it, she reached out and pulled the three of them into a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you."

Yang couldn't help but notice how hoarse Ruby's voice was, like she was resisting crying.

"You're welcome?"

Why would Ruby be acting like this?

Next the Knights went.

Velann gave Ruby a bottle of alcohol. Summer scowled, supported by Tai. Qrow and Yang meanwhile smiled and gave a thumbs up.

Darmus and Pitwick gave Ruby a set of push knives, with the blades inscribed with the symbols all their blades had.

"For if you go somewhere where you aren't allowed to bring a weapon, we know how you feel about that."

Finally, Darion handed his gift over, when Ruby opened the box, she froze, before looking at Darion.

" _How_?"

Ruby's voice definitely cracked there, what was in the box?

"When we were raiding Lordaeron after we stopped Sylvanas, I stopped by your old room at the Silver Hand's base, considering how badly Arthas plagued the place, no animals were there, and nobody went in there."

"I-"

"You don't need to say anything, think of it as my apology for not stopping you all those years ago."

Yang, fed up with the delay, reached over and grabbed the box.

In it were three dresses, one was rather plain, and she quickly placed it to the side. The other two were beautifully made, one was blue with gold and white accents, and the other was a deep crimson, with black and gold accents.

"Where?"

"They were a gift," while no tears went down her face, there was no denying that Ruby was crying, "from two very important people."

"Who?"

"Alexandros Mograine, and Uther Lightbringer."

"You mentioned them a couple times, who were they?"

"Alexandros was like a uncle and teacher to me, and Uther like a father."

Yang was glad Ruby couldn't see the stricken looks of Qrow and Tai's faces then.

X Line Break X

Tai knocked back another glass of beer. He knew that he was being a hypocrite, seeing as he just gotten done agreeing with Summer about Ruby's drinking habit, but he really needed it.

Qrow poured another glass, they were in his room, and he was playing bartender, when he wasn't drinking himself.

"I'm starting to think Oz had a point."

"What do you mean?"

"That we don't know anything about Ruby."

"We know she cares about us."

"Are you sure? You heard what she said."

"Yeah, and it hurts, trust me, I want to go find those two- actually make it three, I don't care what that Velann chick said- and do unspeakable things to their bodies. But Ruby did something that proves she cares."

"What's that?"

"She came back, unlike Rae."

Tai went silent. She came back, what did that mean?

"Think about it, that big hunk of metal they call a base can fly, they could have done anything, gone anywhere in the world. Instead she brought them to Beacon, where Yang was."

"So?"

"So, no matter how important these "Alexandros" and "Uther" are to her, we're important enough that she came back to us."

"We don't know why-"

"We don't," Qrow agreed quietly, "But she has made no attempt to leave, and she brought Summer back to us."

"Yeah."

"Plus, there was her reaction to the cookies."

"What do you mean?"

"You couldn't see her face when she hugged you, but she looked like someone had told her Zwei had died."

"Why would she react like that?"

"I have a theory, but I _really_ don't think you will like it."

"What is it?" A third voice called out.

Summer was standing in the doorway, the nightgown they had bought her hanging from her frame.

If it hadn't been for the glowing eyes, it would have been impossible to tell she had ever been dead in the first place. A result of Arthas's attempts to slowly make his servants more life like. Ruby, while having some of the enhancements added retroactively, was still an 'older model' (her words not his) and it showed, unlike Summer, who looked exactly as she did in life, Ruby had a eternally pallor to her.

Qrow looked at the two of them, "You're really not going to like this."

"Let's hear it Qrow."

"I don't think Ruby planned on coming back."

Tai stared at him, he had just said that Ruby coming back was proof that she cared about them.

"Qrow-"

"Sorry, let me rephrase that, I don't think Ruby planned on surviving to come back."

"You think that-"

Tai couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, why would Qrow think something like that.

"It makes sense, the only thing she brought was Crescent Rose, she didn't even bring her scroll!"

"We could have tracked her through her scroll."

"That's what I thought, but then there was that comment that Velann made about Illidan, that he sacrificed himself because Ruby would have, and Port says he thinks Ruby might have PTSD."

"Dammit."

"What do we do?"

"We take care of her, better than we did before."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Tai knew exactly what Qrow meant, and was sweating bullets, because he had been avoiding admitting to Summer that he shut down again after her death.

"We… might not have been the best parents when you were gone."

Qrow was apparently trying to dance around how badly they screwed up, the girls had practically raised themselves, it was probably how Ruby met Arthas in the first place, looking for something to keep herself busy.

Summer reached over, grabbed their cheeks and _pulled_.

"Ow! Owowow!

"Summer! Please stop!"

"You are both in the dog house," she let go of them, "got it?"

They nodded, "Good, Tai, you're staying with Qrow tonight."

Then she left.

"I forgot how scary she can be…"

"Yeah."

X Line Break X

 _Ruby danced out of the way of the swinging blade, laughing with a sound like tinkling bells, "You'll have to do better than that, Darion!"_

 _The ten year old glared at her, sweat dripping down his face._

 _He charged forward, only for Ruby to parry the blade._

 _Alexandros spoke from the edge of the arena, "Focus Darion, you'll never win fighting like an Orc, the greatest weapon you have is your mind. You need focus and speed to win against Orcs, not strength."_

 _Ruby surged forward, bringing the training blade up rapping in to Darion's hand and causing him to drop the great sword with a yelp._

" _How many times do we have to tell you? Never drop your weapon, if you do you're as good as dead! Take a five minute break."_

 _Darion fell on his backside, groaning in pain._

 _Ruby looked up at the clock tower, "Actually, I need to go, I have a lesson with Jaina in a couple of minutes."_

" _Of course, give my regards to Lady Proudmoore. Renault! Your turn!"_

 _Darion didn't pay attention as Renault walked into the arena, watching instead as Ruby walked from the area._

" _Why do you always have her help us?"_

" _Because, my son, you need practice fighting while distracted."_

" _I wasn't distracted!"_

" _You can insist that all you like, but I saw where your eyes were focused on."_

 _Darion whined, was everyone going to make fun of him for this?_

 _X Line Break X_

 _Ruby pushed open the door to Jaina's study, seeing a man she had never seen before. He was tall, wearing red armor, with a cloak covering his body. He had glowing eyes and long blond hair._

" _-Just one chance?"_

" _No, Kael," Jaina sounded exhausted, like she had answered whatever question it was too many times. She looked behind him, "Hello Ruby, here for your lesson?"_

" _Yeah, but if you're busy with-"_

" _Kael'thas Sunstrider, prince of the High Elves, but please, call me Kael, any friend of Jaina is a friend of mine."_

" _Nice to meet you! Anyway, if you're too busy with Kael I can-"_

" _No, he was just leaving, but today we're heading out to the target range."_

" _I'm actually going to cast a spell!?"_

 _A lot of what Ruby had done with Jaina over the last year had been studying, the number of times she had actually casted a spell could be counted on both hand. On the upside, if (when!) she got home, studying with Weiss would be easier._

" _Oh, you're teaching her? I think I'll come along and watch."_

 _Ruby watched as Jaina breathed through her nose, "Fine."_

 _Once they were there, Ruby ran through what she had learned in her head, and started to chanel mana._

 _She unleashed a blast of fire waiting for it to reach the targets before allowing it to burst out, doubling in size._

 _She was left gasping for breath, while she was happy that she could do something related to magic, she wished it didn't take so much out of her._

" _That was very good Ruby! But could I ask why you're using such an advanced spell when you're clearly not ready for it?"_

" _What- What do you mean?"_

" _Where did you learn how to do this?"_

" _I've mostly been learning from books, with some help with Jaina, she's been teaching me to add more mana before I cast them."_

 _Kael looked over at Jaina, "Don't you use Frost magic?"_

" _Yes."_

 _Kael, covered his face, groaning slightly, "Jaina, you do remember that Frost and Fire are opposing uses of Arcane, right?"_

" _Yes?"_

" _You don't "add" the mana you use for fire spells like you do frost, doing so is an advanced technique!"_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Look, it's easier if I show you."_

 _He held out a hand, and fire burst to life._

" _A frost mage needs to add more Mana beforehand to reinforce their spell, a fire mage instead uses mana to control the spell."_

" _I don't get it."_

" _A frost mage needs to make sure their spell doesn't melt or shatter before it hits their target, a Fire mage doesn't need to worry about that, unless their launching it at a puddle of water it's not going to stop burning, instead we need to control the shape of the flames."_

 _He released the spell, which took the form of a beautiful bird that flapped its wing as it flew towards the target._

" _See?"_

" _I- I think so."_

" _Give it a try, it doesn't need to be anything fancy like I did."_

 _Ruby gathered the ball of fire in her hand, trying to think of a shape, before swinging to the side._

 _A crescent of flames flew out, leaving a scorch mark on the targets._

 _Kael clapped, "Very good! Keep that up and you will be a master in no time."_

 _Ruby beamed at him and Jaina._

X Line Break X

Weiss looked at the ghastly green flame in her partner's hand.

"What are you doing with that?"

"Practicing." Grunted out the silver eyed girl.

The heiress watched as the flame slithered up Ruby's arm.

"Why?"

"Haven't used it in a very long time, since before I broke free."

She watched as it shifted until it looked looked like a gryphon, which leapt off Ruby's shoulder and flew around the room.

"You seem to be able to use it fine."

"Used to be better, once burned ten men to death at once, ask Darion if you're curious."

That was probably the most disconcerting part of this to Weiss, the almost casual way Ruby mentioned some of the atrocities she performed.

"Ruby? Can I ask you a question?"

The gryphon flew back into Ruby's waiting hand, only to be crushed.

"Sure, What's up?"

"Why _are_ you in charge of the Ebon Blade?"

Ruby shrugged, "I'm dangerous, I actually probably hurt Arthas worse than anyone else managed too for a long time back when we first fought. I'm experienced, I spent years leading teams or individual Necropolis. I'm talented at many forms of combat and I fit in well with the other leaders."

"Wasn't that when you were a kid?"

"Never underestimate the danger of a pissed off mage with nothing to lose. The bastard spent six months with a massive scar on the side of his face, it was great!"

"But what about any of the others? Pitwick, Darmus, or Darion couldn't have done it?"

"Neither Pitwick or Darmus wanted the role, and Darion is younger than me."

Weiss froze at that.

"Darion is younger than you?"

"Yep."

"How much younger?"

"A few years."

"Are you sure?"

"I would hope so, seeing as I knew him when he was a kid."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I knew his father so I saw him every once and awhile, it was cute, he had a crush on me that he thought I didn't know about."

Something about that just didn't seem right, Darion acted too mature for someone who couldn't be older than twelve.

"Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"What's really going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ruby, please, I can tell you're lying. Tell me what's going on? I promise to keep it a secret."

That was all it seemed to take for Ruby to crack, the story spilled from her lips, in between ragged sobs.

In the first minute she was dumbfounded.

In the second enraged.

By the fifth she settled in for the long haul.

About ten minutes into the story Weiss pulled out her scroll and messaged Blake and Yang to leave the two alone.

Fifteen minutes in, and she learned about how Ruby and Illidan met.

Twenty minutes in she was checking Ruby's eyelids for permanent damage.

By the twenty five minute mark, she had a new level of hatred, reserved for Kel'thuzad.

An hour in, and she realized just how deep Ruby's hatred for Arthas sat.

Two hours after the start, she was wondering just how strange Azeroth was (Talking pandas?)

By the fourth hour Weiss gave up all attempts at decorum, pulling the sobbing thirty year old into a hug as she explained the War of the Broken Shores, and subsequent battle against the the Old Gods.

Finally as the story ended, Weiss spoke, "Why didn't you just tell us?"

"I didn't want to leave Beacon."

"Why did you think you would have to leave?"

"Beacon is a place for young heroes, not an old killing machine like me."

"Don't say that."

Ruby laughed, it was a sharp noise, like the bark of a dog.

"It's true, I turned thirty six a couple days ago Weiss, I'm as old as my own parents, and as for being a killing machine? Killing is all I know how to do anymore, it's the entire reason I brought the Ebon Blade here, there's no end of things for us to kill."

"You sounded like a hero to me."

"What part of that story made me sound like a hero?"

"You didn't need to fight Deathwing, or go look for Anduin, did you?"

"No, but-"

"Then what's wrong with admitting that you might be a hero."

"Because I'm not a hero, for every good thing I've done there is another hundred terrible things I've done."

"Ruby-"

"Whatever, I'll get packing."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're obviously going to tell everyone-

"Ruby Rose, sit down."

"What?"

"You're not going anywhere, you are my partner, and that doesn't change if you're a fifteen year old dolt with ADHD or a thirty six year old dolt with a guilt complex."

"Weiss-"

"No! I've lost to many people, I'm not losing you too."

"But-"

"I'll keep your secret for now, but you'll have to tell everyone else eventually."

"I know."

"Good, now come on, we need to work on that essay for Professor Oobleck."

Ruby laughed, "You don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that again."

X Line Break X

 _Ruby sighed, "Why are we doing this again? Especially when there is a undead plague in the kingdom?"_

 _"Because they will be looking to the royal family, to see how we react in these times."_

 _"I'm not part of the royal family Cal!"_

 _"You're not, but you spend enough time around us that their eyes will be on you, just as they are on Uther. Also don't call me Cal!"_

 _"So we're going to an opera? That's how we're showing we aren't worried about it, not going out there helping or something?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"That's dumb."_

 _"You won't hear me argue, Father has a tendency to make rash decisions. Now would you please stop moving around so I can finish with the makeup? We're going to be late."_

 _Ruby let Calia finish the applying the minor amount of makeup that Ruby had agreed to._

 _As they walked out into the courtyard, Ruby couldn't keep the smile off her face at Darion's reaction. His jaw dropped, and a blush lit up his cheeks._

 _She walked over to the carriage she would be taking with Uther, Alexandros, and his two kids._

 _She looked at the other three, "You're unhappy about this too?_

 _All three nodded, looking extremely uncomfortable without a weapon in easy reach. It was a mutual agreement they all shared. They let the silence weigh for a moment._

 _Then she looked over at Darion, and sighed._

 _"Darion, my eyes are up here."_

 _"I- I don't know what you mean!"_

 _Alexandros hid his laugh behind his hand. Something Renault didn't even feel the need to do._

 _It was a sadly common thing since Darion started to go through puberty, to go talk to him only to find him looking at her chest._

 _"Anyway, how are your lessons going?"_

 _"They're going well. I beat Renault the other day!"_

 _"You got lucky!"_

 _"Lucky is apparently silver haired, and obsessed with destroying the undead."_

 _"What do you mean, Dad?"_

 _"When Renault let up his guard, a young Miss Whitemane just happened to be walking by."_

 _"Father!"_

 _"Oh, I see how it is I get distracted by-" Darion paused, glancing at Ruby, "-stuff, and it's a lesson, you get distracted and luck!"_

 _"I'm sorry I haven't been able to make it recently, but Kael has been a slave driver."_

 _It was true, the High Elf had taken over for Jaina when she went out with Arthas, and spent the last month and a half drilling all the magical theory he could in her head._

 _"No! It's fine, don't worry about it!_

 _Even Uther laughed at the younger son of the Ashbringer's reaction._

 _X Line Break X_

 _"Damn it, Uther. As your future king, I order you to purge this city!"_

 _"You are not my king yet, boy. Nor would I obey that command if you were!"_

 _Ruby watched with mounting horror as the two paladins argued, what was Arthas talking about? Purging the city?_

 _"Then I must consider this an act of treason."_

 _"Treason? Have you lost your mind, Arthas?"_

 _"Have I? Lord Uther, by my right of succession and sovereignty of my crown, I hereby relieve you from your command and suspend your paladins from service."_

 _Ruby finally spoke through the horror_

 _"Have you gone completely mad!?"_

 _"Arthas, you can't just…"_

 _"It's done! Those of you who have the will to save this land, follow me. The rest of you... get out of my sight."_

 _Uther affixed Arthas with a look, one that made even Ruby shiver._

 _"You've just crossed a terrible threshold, Arthas."_

 _He started to walk away._

 _Arthas turned towards Jaina, who was looking at him with horror._

 _"Jaina?"_

 _"I'm sorry, Arthas. I can't watch you do this."_

 _"Ruby?"_

 _"Ruby come on already!"_

 _Ruby just shook her head._

 _"How could you."_

 _Then she rushed over to Steadfast, trying to block out the sound of children screaming, and the smell of fire as Arthas's men began their duty._

 _As they rode away from Stratholme, Ruby buried her head into Uther's mantle._

 _"How could he?"_

 _"I don't think he could handle the stress of everything that has been happening."_

 _"What do we do?"_

 _"We return to Lordaeron city. I'll talk to Terenas."_

 _"But Arthas-"_

 _"Despite what Arthas thinks, he is not the ultimate power in this kingdom, and never will be if continues down this path."_

 _X Line Break X_

 _"Ruby!"_

 _Ruby cursed slightly as the deer she had been hunting fled._

 _"What?" She tried to keep the irritation out of her voice as she turned towards Uther._

 _"I don't have time to explain, grab Crescent Rose and let's go!"_

 _Ruby followed along, catching the sound of worry in Uther's voice._

 _"Where are we going?"_

 _"I need you to stay with Alexandros for a while until Tirion comes to pick you up, I'm riding to Andorhal."_

 _"I thought that you banished Tirion?"_

 _"I did, but we have bigger problems than a Orc lover, and I need to get you out of here."_

 _"Uther, what's going on?"_

 _"Arthas came back."_

 _"Isn't that a good thing?"_

 _"No! He… He killed Terenas."_

 _"What? Uther, that isn't funny."_

 _"I'm not joking, I need you to go away for a bit, until this blows over."_


	7. Chapter 7

Ruby dove behind the cover, "How many more have you got?"

Velann shook her head, "Only three more, then I'm out."

Ruby looked over at the no-man's land between the cover, seeing a bag of Velann's preferred ammo.

"Cover me, I'm going for that bag."

Velann gave a cheery salute, before popping up, throwing one of the canisters at the oppression.

Ruby burst from the cover, rushing towards the bag. Grabbing it, she went low, dodging the suppressing fire.

She slung the bag towards Velann, who caught it.

A body went flying over Ruby's head, "Weiss!"

Ruby reached out, looking for anything, once her hand wrapped around something, she burst from cover, rushing the enemy base.

Weaving in and out of the way from the rain of attacks, she brought her impromptu weapon in a batter swing.

The air rushed from Jaune's mouth as the baguette smashed into his stomach, sending him flying back.

"Jaune!"

Ruby was crashed into the ceiling as the twister of soda cans crashed into her.

A link of sausage wrapped around Pyrrha's throat, breaking her concentration. This had the unfortunate side effect of sending Ruby dropping into the ground.

"Oh, this is going to _suck_."

The last thing Ruby saw before she crashed into the ground, buried under the cans, was Yang get sent flying by Nora.

As she lay there, hearing the sound of battle rage above her, a lesson from Kael came to her.

' _Remember Ruby, a Fire mage is never in control.'_

' _What do you mean?'_

' _Fire is the easiest form of Arcane to manipulate, but is impossible to actually control, you can direct it, shape it, but if you are not careful, it will burn you and your allies just as it would your enemies. This is particularly important for a war mage to learn, because you will be near your flames.'_

Ruby heated the air around her, a trick she had learned during her time in Kalimdor. She felt her own skin blister and burn as the metal around her heated up.

It was strange, Ruby reflected, how unnoteworthy that was now. She was one of the few Death Knights still alive who remembered when fire was a problem, only a few "problem" ones had been assigned to Acherus. Arthas had dedicated copious amounts of time to fixing that problem after she turned his victory against him.

Eventually, the pressure in the cans grew to be too much, and the contents erupted outward. Ruby burst from her tomb, creating a wind tunnel around her dragging the soda with her.

Team JNPR were slammed into the wall, and coated with the heated drink. Aura _would_ be enough to heal the burns, if there were any. It's not like she had heated it enough to actually burn through the shield effect of Aura. This was after all not a battle but a bit of fun.

Ruby plopped down on one of the (broken) tables, it felt good to get the blood (metaphorically) pumping.

Her Scroll went off with a chirp, and she looked down at it.

' _Found One.'_

Ruby jumped up and started walking to the door.

If all went well, she would have her answers soon. (And maybe, a little traitorous part of her whispered, a bit of fun of a different sort.)

X LINE BREAK X

Neo kicked her feet, bored out of her mind.

They had been unloading the Paladins that Roman had stolen for the past few hours, and she would give anything for something interesting to happen.

At that exact moment, the wall was smashed down.

' _Me and my fat mouth.'_

There were six of them, all clad in heavy armor, though only one wore a helmet.

One of them stepped forward and **waved a hand, smoke flowed from its wake, and covered the area before Neo could move. The diminutive thief fell, moving her mouth, gasping for air that would not come. As her vision faded out, she heard them speak.**

" **I wasn't expecting this, Deathlord."**

" **Easier this way, somebody here knows what we are looking for… Wait, I recognize this one, we'll start with him."**

Spoke out, "Who's in charge here?"

Neo reached over and grabbed Roman's arm, hiding themselves both in an illusion.

A Faunus, she wasn't sure what type, spoke up, "I am."

"I'm going to need to ask you to come with us."

Silence stretched after that, did she really think they would go with him?

Finally one of the others, and holy crap was that guy huge, spoke up, "I could have told you that wouldn't have worked."

"I know, but I promised Anduin I would at least attempt to stop with the torture first approach we use."

"And now that it didn't work?"

The girl shrugged, "Technically speaking, it's not torture first, do what you will with the rest, just make sure she survives."

The Faunus tensed, bringing their guns up, only to be brought down before they could fire.

One group were incinerated by ghostly flames, another seemed to be torn apart by their own shadows, a third was consumed by a pillar of light, spikes of ice, blood torn from their body, and simple old fashioned violence.

The leader brought up their gun and fired, a desperate move, seeing as her hands were shaking too much to aim.

She was roughly grabbed by two of them.

"Give her here, I'll bring her to the shuttle waiting to take us to the Ebon Hold, I'll deal with her there."

Oh, they were from that order that Neo had infiltrated earlier. Suddenly that seemed like a mistake.

"What about these?"

One of them pointed at the Paladins.

"What about them?"

"We could use them. At the very least Pitwick would be happy with them."

"A good point."

A portal, it reminded Neo of one of _that bitch's_ portals, opened and a group of zombies staggered out.

A guttural sound came from the leader's throat.

The zombies started to walk over to one of the Paladins lifting it up.

One stopped by Neo's hiding place, sniffing the air. It couldn't smell them right?

It **lunged at them forcing Neo to break the illusion to impale it.**

" **How did we miss you?"**

 **Crap.**

 **Everyone stared at her, another noise came from the leader's mouth, and the mass of undead started to rush towards them.**

 **Double crap.**

" **Roman?"**

" **You can talk!?"**

" **Fuck you."**

 **Then she died fighting an unstoppable tide.**

Shuffled away from them to help its brethren.

After they left, Neo broke the illusion with a sigh of relief, they needed to go tell Cinder.

X LINE BREAK X

Somewhere, across the Great Dark Beyond, a being smirked, feeling a ship leave it's flesh, blazing like a beacon of Light, as the same time another beacon lit up at their destination.

 _Yerl, Anduin, Kalecgos, Khadgar, you better not screw up_.

It closed its eyes.

 _Soon, Sargeras I will end this_.

X LINE BREAK X

Blake ran as fast as she could, dodging around people in the streets as she ran to cut Ruby off, trying to beat Ruby and her hostage to the ship.

 _Torture_? They planned to torture the White Fang member they had captured?

Blake crawled up a wall, grabbing the edge of the roof. Without the other people to slow her down she could get there quicker than Ruby, who was using the alleyways to avoid being seen.

Blake dropped down, ready to confront her team leader.

"Blake, what are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing? I followed you, I heard what you said, you're going to torture that woman!"

"You don't understand Blake! Somewhere out there, right now, the White Fang is using Necromancy to force people to serve them!"

"You use Necromancy!"

"And I'll burn in hell for that one day! But I've already lost one home to the Scourge, and I refuse to let Vale go the same way as Lordaeron and Quel'thalas!"

"This isn't right, Ruby!"

"The Ebon Blade has never been about what is right! It's about what is necessary!"

"You're psychotic."

"If that's what you think, fine, but you won't stop me from doing what needs to be done!"

"I won't let you do this."

" _ **You assume that you have a choice."**_

Ruby dropped her package to the ground, grasping the glave. She threw out the hand holding the glave, and a blast of ice wind and snow launched at Blake.

It was only thanks to Blake's reflexes and Semblance that she avoided the attack.

Shifting Gamble Shroud into its pistol, Blake fired it at Ruby only for it to be stopped by a pillar of ice.

"You sound certain that the Scourge would destroy Vale, we have Ozpin, and Goodwitch, and the entire Beacon staff!"

"We had Uther, Alexandros, Sylvanas and Anasterian! It didn't help, we have to stop it now, smother it in the crib before it's too late!"

Blake dove out of the way of a blast of fire.

"There's two thousand students at Beacon, and more at Signal, we can beat them!"

"Every one that dies would be another soldier in in the Scourge's army! Lordaeron had great heroes too, and they all ended up fighting for the Scourge or dead beyond the ability to be raised back!"

Blake dove from her perch, bringing Gamble Shroud across Ruby's left arm, takingadvantage of the weakness she had noted.

As she moved away Ruby grabbed her by the leg.

"Give it up Blake, I've been doing this longer then you have been alive!"

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Blake used her Semblance to dive free, spinning around, she brought both of Gamble Shroud's blades across Ruby's face, destroying both eyes. At that exact moment, the glave struck her chest. Her aura was fading fast and another hit might actually put her in serious danger.

Blake span with the blow, slashing at the arm again. Even as the arm flew away lost by Ruby's refusal (or incapability) to use Auric shielding, she felt fire burn through _her_ Aura.

She laid there pain radiating from her chest, and Ruby limped into view.

The damage around her eyes was healing, but the sockets themselves were empty voids. Blake flinched, pain radiating from her chest, had she done that? Ruby had the White Fang member gripped by the arms.

"Fine, I won't torture her, not today."

What?

"I'm giving you two months to find the information I need, that's the longest I can risk, and if you can't find that information by then, I will track someone down and get the information myself."

She turned to the bound hostage, "You owe this girl your life."

The Faunus nodded, tears welling up in her eyes as the gag was taken out.

"Thank you, thank you so much."

"I want you to go back to your leader, and tell him to stop what he is doing right now, because he is playing with something he could never understand."

"Of course, yes Ma'am!"

"And then, I would suggest leaving the White Fang."

The girl scampered off.

"Now, where is my arm?"

Silence stretched.

"Oi! You people can see in there, point me towards it."

The silence was unbroken.

" _Thank you_! At least one of you is useful!"

Ruby staggered over to her arm and picked it up.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry Blake."

Then she walked through one of her portals.

Blake lay there, and heard the cry of a crow.

"Hey! You stay awake, we need to get you to the hospital!"

Qrow was leaning over her, a look of worry on his face.

X LINE BREAK X

"Tirion? Darion? Where are you?"

Ruby walked along, straining her ears for the two of them.

The entity knew she hated eye injuries, they took a while to heal, and until they did she was left in the dark, with nothing but ghosts of the past to haunt her.

"Darmus, Pitwick? Is there anyone there?"

 _you are a pawn of forces unseen…_

Oh, joy _he_ was back.

 _This World-Soul has already almost fallen._

"Ok, seriously, this isn't funny."

 _Help our brothers finish it and you will be rewarded._

' _What the hell had Blake been thinking?_

 _What had She been thinking?'_

Time to step in, before she could be swayed to the opposition's side.

You both fought for what you believed in. There is no shame in that.

 _BE SILENT!_

Oh? What do we have here?

 _This one is dead, she is mine!_

I thought I had gotten rid of you?

 _Her weapon is forged from my blood! She will serve us!_

Not so long as I am here, now be quiet.

Ruby slid against the wall, "Please, anyone, help me."

Hush now, somebody will come, but it will be a while.

"Please, I don't want to be alone."

I know, but I believe you can survive this. We have been together for a long time. I _know_ you can withstand it.

The entity turned its focus to its opposite number, trying to tune out its host's desperate cries for help.

The entity had no heart, but if it did, it would have broken as it heard its only friend's pleas.

X LINE BREAK X

Penny stepped off the airship onto the Ebon Hold.

She was tracing Ruby's Auric signature. Nobody had seen the Highlord since she and Blake had fought.

Penny followed the winding hallways, trying to find her way to where her data said Ruby was.

Mister Ironwood and Weiss were following behind her, being the only people who seemed to care about Ruby's disappearance, who wasn't also worried because of its cause.

It made sense that the three from militaristic Atlas would be the ones least intimidated, Mister Ironwood had even noted a (rather grudging) respect for her, willing to do whatever it took to save her home.

As they rounded the corner, entering a room, Penny heard Weiss gasp and Mister Ironwood curse, even as she took in all the data from her sensors.

Ruby was lying there, unmoving. Crescent Rose was lying farther away, alongside Ruby's arm. A trail of congealed blood started from a random spot, and ended just before the stump of her severed arm.

Weiss and Mister Ironwood rushed past her, checking Ruby for any signs of life, Penny knew it was an instinctual action. A battery of tests done on Summer (Ruby had threatened bodily harm on anyone who came near her with a needle) had proven that Death Knights didn't have any heartbeat, even things like breathing were done because on autopilot, and stopped the minute they stopped focusing on it.

Penny continued to take in data, noting that Ruby's Auric signature seemed to be coming from Cresent Rose, rather than Ruby herself. Then she turned and rushed down the halls, looking for help.

The first person she ran into was a large man, his skin an unhealthy blue.

"Help me!"

"What's wrong?"

"Ruby isn't moving!"

"I'm going to need you to explain exactly what is going on."

Penny rushed through her explanation, when she mentioned Crescent Rose, the man turned to the skeleton next to him, "Find Tirion and Thoras, then bring them to me."

Penny rushed to keep up with the man, as he covered the ground with long strides, "What's your name?"

"Nazgrim."

"You'll be able to help Ruby, right?"

"Probably, this happened to one of our old members occasionally."

"What did?"

"A discontinuation between the body and Phylactery."

"Phylactery?"

Penny ran through her on board dictionary for the word, and when that didn't produce any results, connected to the CCTnet, which produced a similar lack of results.

"Ruby isn't a normal Death Knight anymore. She became something more, or, depending on your outlook, less."

"What?"

"A Lich."

"What _is_ a Lich?"

It was another word that Penny had found no luck in finding.

"A Lich is someone who placed their Soul in an item, their Phylactery. So long as their Phylactery remains intact, they can regenerate from any wound and even death or the destruction of their bodies."

"And Ruby did that?"

Something about the idea that her first friend wasn't quite human excited Penny.

"Yes."

"So she should be fine?"

"Hardest part should be holding her still to stitch her arm back on, which is why I called for Tirion and Thoras."

Penny felt relief flood her form as they reached the room, Ruby would be alright.

X LINE BREAK X

"LET ME GO, YOU TWO, BEFORE I FEED YOU TO MY GHOULS!"

"Sorry Deathlord! We can't hear you!"

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY! TIRION GET THAT NEEDLE AWAY FROM ME!"

James watched the interaction between the four, slightly dumbfounded, _this_ was the organization that they were worried about? Their strength was admirable, their discipline was lacking in the extreme.

"Ruby please, you need to get this arm reattached already."

"FUCK YOU!"

"You know," The giant of a man grunted as an elbow smashed into his nose breaking it for the third time in this encounter, "in hindsight, it probably would have been smarter to do this _before_ we brought her back."

"Sorry, I was busy trying to keep her friends from freaking out."

"I'm not blaming you, just saying."

"Almost done!"

"Good, maybe we will be able to find out what they want."

James raised an eyebrow at the… creative threats Ruby was making towards the three of them, _'I'll have to remember that one for next time Qrow is being difficult.'_

"Finished!"

The two men dropped Ruby, who proceeded to test out her arm by punching the smaller of the two in the face, shattering his nose, and tieing up the score between the two holding her on that count.

She turned towards him, "Sorry about that… what was it you needed?"

"Highlord Rose, I am General James Ironwood of the Atlesian military."

"A pleasure, General, I as you previously stated am Highlord-"

"Deathlord." the three around her chorused.

"-I'm not using that title shut up. _Highlord_ Ruby Rose-

"-the Argent Champion-" Spoke out Tirion.

"-Vengeance Incarnate-" Chimed in the giant.

"-the Sword and Shield of Wrynn-" added in the blue skinned one.

"Are you _trying_ to piss me off?"

"Yes." The giant admitted.

"That was my intention." the blue skinned male elaborated.

"Consider it payback for making me worry." Tirion explained

" _Anyways_ , might I ask why you are here?"

"We were sent to look for you, nobody had seen you since your fight with your teammate a week ago."

"That was a week ago?"

"You don't know how long it's been?"

"It tends to become difficult to tell how long it has been with no outside stimuli."

"There is no need to be snide."

"Please don't treat me as a fool then. You have some other reason for being here, a General doesn't go looking for someone they have never seen before."

"Uh, yes."

"Well what is it? I'm sure that there has been plenty of disasters while I was indisposed that I need to deal with."

"We would like you to take Penny here as a student to your organisation, so as to foster bonds between the Knights of the Ebon Blade and Atlas."

"And you have spoken to Penny about this?"

"Yes."

Ruby turned to the girl, "If we take you as a student, it will be the most painful experience in your life, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Affirmative!"

"Very well General Ironwood, we'll take you up on that offer."

Good, step one of Oz's plan worked.

X LINE BREAK X

"I need to talk to you."

"Give me a minute." Velann responded to Yang without looking up from the terminal she was sitting at.

Scrolls had unfortunately been restricted to Ruby, Darion, and Tirion at the moment, though work was being made at changing that.

Velann couldn't help but marvel at the technology, not even the Draenei had something like this. Azeroth must have been so backward to Ruby.

Finishing up the news she was reading she turned around, "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you? Alone?"

"Sure."

Velann followed Yang into an empty classroom.

"I want you to stay away from Ruby."

"No."

Yang glared at her, "Stay away from her."

"What do you think that would do?"

"Everything could just go back to normal!"

"How would me staying away from Ruby make things normal?"

"Not you as in," Yang gestured to Velann, " _you_ , I mean you as in The Ebon Blade."

"Why would we stay away from our leader?"

"Because it's not healthy for her to be around you!"

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Ever since you all showed up Ruby's been acting different! She was going to torture someone, she hurt Blake, and apparently she was sleeping around with some strange man!"

Yang's eyes were burning red, even as tears streaked down her face.

"I want you all gone and I want my baby sister back!"

"That can't happen."

"Why not!"

"Because she's been dead for twenty years!"

Fuck it. Ruby needed to stop hiding in this delusion that everything was the same as it had been, it was hurting everyone around her.

And if Ruby wouldn't come out of it herself, then Velann would drag her into it kicking and screaming.

X LINE BREAK X 

Summer, who had been listening at the door, cut in at that point. "What do you mean my daughter has been dead for twenty years?!"

Velann groaned and looked ready to complain, but muttered to herself, "at least I only have to explain it once, so then you can go and talk to Ruby and I don't have to deal with this."

Yang looked ready to burst into flames, Summer mused, just like her father. Though the passion for adventure had to have come from Raven and the love for family came from herself. Summer took her swords in hand and started to smile threateningly at Velann. "Will you please elaborate?"

Velann sighed looked for somewhere to sit. She told them "Ruby's been lying to you since she returned,, she wasn't gone for six day, for her, at least, it has been twenty years."

"Pull the other one, it has a bell on it."

"I'm serious!"

"Ruby's _sixteen_."

"She doesn't look it though."

"That's because of Arthas!"

"I'm not denying that, what I am denying is that he aged her up, rather, he stopped her aging at the moment of her death."

"That doesn't make sense!"

"And our 'mutations' do?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't you think Malag would be a lot more angry about being turned into a giant tentacled monstrosity? Or that Pitwick would have a lot more trouble dealing with the fact that he's three feet tall and missing a digit on each hand?"

Summer thought back to her own raising, "Ruby didn't seem concerned about the idea of me having any mutations."

"Exactly!"

"But why would she lie to us?"

Velann shrugged, "Maybe she was afraid of confronting that you would die one day, maybe in an attempt to make it easier for you. Maybe to relive the white washed world she remembers. She doesn't remember this place as it was, but as she would have liked it to have been. It's been two decades for her, how well do you remember a decade ago? Ruby doesn't like dealing with problems if she can avoid it. If I'm honest, I think, on some level, she was glad Sylvanas went insane right after Illidan's death, it allowed her to avoid thinking about it."

Summer locked eyes with the girl, "Tell me everything."

"Grab a seat, it will take a while."

X LINE BREAK X

" _Ruby, come on, Uther wouldn't want you to be like this."_

 _Alexandros frowned when Ruby didn't respond, staring dispassionately at the hearth._

 _Alexandros looked out at the darkened houses of Brill, even if she did respond, he wasn't sure what he would do or even could do. Nobody had left their house, terrified of the Scourge rapidly sweeping it's way across Lordaeron._

 _It had already passed by Brill earlier, only a couple of weeks ago, moving with an inhuman speed._

 _Tirion was supposed to arrive later that day, from there he would bring her to Daelin, who would bring her with him on his attempts to find Jaina._

 _He sat down, cleaning his sword for what felt like the hundredth time, looking for anything to take his mind off what was happening._

 _He should be out there, fighting, not playing babysitter!_

 _But he couldn't fault Uther, he was half a mind to send Renault and Darion with them even now, when they wanted to be out there just as much as he did. He didn't think there was a moment that he could remember that he was more proud of his sons._

 _Alexandros tensed as he heard the sound of hoofbeats, which stopped outside his house._

 _Gripping his sword, he walked towards the door._

 _A hurried thunderous knocking shook the house. Ruby stood up, reaching for her scythe, Darion grabbed the pair of swords he had taken to, and Renault grabbed his mace._

 _"Alexandros let me in, it's Ballador!"  
_

 _Ruby moved to the door, cracking it open at his nod._

 _Even after Ballador was in, Alexandros kept his blade trained on him._

" _What are you doing here?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _You were with Uther. Why are you here?"_

" _Uther sent me to warn you!"_

" _What?"_

" _Arthas won, Uther is dead."_

" _What?"_

" _By the Light! Ruby I'm sorry, I forgot you were here!"_

 _Ruby's eyes seemed to glow brighter as she breathed in and walked out of the room._

 _Alexandros and Ballador shared a look, that wasn't good._

 _X LINE BREAK X_

 _Darion woke up when he heard the sound of someone moving around downstairs._

 _He reached over, grabbing his swords, and he crept down stairs._

 _Standing there was Ruby, opening the door to the house._

" _Ruby? What are you doing?"_

 _Ruby turned around, looking guilty._

" _Darion? What are you doing up?"_

" _You didn't answer my question."_

" _I forgot to feed Steadfast."_

" _Can't it wait till Tirion gets here?"_

" _No!"_

" _Ruby, you're not planning on doing anything stupid are you?"_

" _No! Of course not. Look, Darion, come over here."_

 _Darion walked over to her, wondering what she wanted._

 _His face lit up when she placed a hand on his cheek and pressed her lips against the other._

 _Then he felt his eyes grow heavy. Why was he so tired?_

 _When he woke two hours later, it was to Tirion looking down at him in worry._

 _X LINE BREAK X_

 _Arthas sat on his father's- no his- throne, Frostmourne sitting at his side._

 _"Young prince, why have you not started your march on Quel'thalas yet. We need Kel'thuzad if we are to help our… esteemed master."_

" _I need time to bolster my forces, Uther put up more of a fight then I was expecting."_

 _It was true, the Paladin had fought harder than Arthas had ever seen him, destroying wave after wave of ghouls and Acolytes, and had forced Arthas to confront Uther himself._

" _You have two days."_

" _Of course."_

 _The Dreadlord suddenly recoiled._

" _Be wary, there is something close, coming here."_

 _It was at that moment that the door was blasted off it's hinges._

 _Arthas stood from his throne grabbing Frostmourne._

" _Who dares?"_

 _Silver flames raced across the room, burning the undead gathered there to ash and sending Tichondrius fleeing, roaring as his leg was burned._

 _All the flames converged in one place, Arthas, and the Death Knight brought Frostmourne in between the flames and him, creating a shell of ice around himself._

 _The flames died out, only for the ice to shatter, and Frostmourne clashed with another blade._

 _Drawing upon his unholy strength, Arthas pushed the unknown assailant back._

 _She came skidding to a halt, and Arthas had just enough time to realize who he was looking at, before she disappeared in a storm of rose petals._

 _Every instinct in his body screamed, and Arthas moved, placing Frostmourne in the way of the scythe. Blue-green eyes met pure silver._

" _Ruby."_

" _Hello, Arthas."_

 _Then she was gone and Arthas was forced to block the next blow._

 _This was how the fight continued for the next few minutes, Ruby moving around the area with speed Arthas was hard pressed to beat, occasionally throwing blasts of that ethereal fire, but mostly attacking with her scythe._

 _Arthas retaliated when he could, launching blast of necrotic energy at the girl, but she was never there by the time they hit._

" _Are you here about Uther? Would you like to hear how he died?"_

 _A voice echoed through Arthas's head, Muradin, training him out in the courtyard, 'Remember, lad, if ya can anger your foe, they will get sloppy, make mistakes, it's your job ta take advantage of those mistakes.'_

 _Ruby paused for a moment, anger flashing across her face, "I'm here to stop you from hurting anyone else!"_

" _Really? Is that true? Or is it just what you're telling yourself?"_

 _Ruby disappeared again, and Arthas brought Frostmourne up again._

" _He died begging, you know? Pleading for me to spare you."_

 _A lie, Uther had died staring down Arthas, foolishly. (Bravely, a little traitorous part of his whispered.)_

 _More flames lashed out at him, and he flicked them to the side, carelessly._

" _I was going to grant him that request, a final gift for setting me down this path, but now that you're here, I think it would be kinder to reunite you."_

" _You won't win, Arthas."_

" _There's no need to be like that, Ruby. I'm doing you a favor. Alexandros, his kids, Calia? They'll all be there too eventually."_

 _Ruby appeared in front of him with a shriek of rage._

' _There!'_

 _Arthas went low, bringing Frostmourne up, in striking the blade of Crescent Rose and shattering it._

 _Arthas so Ruby's eyes widen, and fire start to lick at her fingertips, "No you don't!"_

 _The blade met some form of resistance, just for a moment, before it pierced Ruby's chest._

 _The fire went out, and Ruby fell to her knees, blood flowing from her lips and nose._

" _I win."_

 _Ruby reached up, placing a hand on his face, and then smiled. It wasn't a pretty thing, like her normal smiles were, there were too many teeth._

" _No," she managed to spit out around the blood, and her eyes flashed red._

 _Then the pain blossomed from his cheek._

 _X LINE BREAK X_

 _Ruby had read a lot of stories about dying, how your life flashed before your eyes, and heat leaked from your body as you went through a tunnel towards a light, where everyone was waiting for you._

 _That wasn't happening to her. Admittedly, she was getting cold, but instead, her mind was going back to her trip to Gilneas, or more particularly, the book she had stolen from Jaina to read._

 _ **A Dissertation on The Nature of Fel Magic and How to Combat It.**_

 _Ruby knew Jaina would have been disappointed in her if she ever found out Ruby had taken it, but she wanted to know everything that there was to know about this place for when she got home._

' _Heh, guess that wasn't happening now'_

 _ **Fel is naturally chaotic, if Arcane is a lake, the Fel is the ocean.**_

 _Ruby sank to her knees, the blade tearing through her lung._

 _ **Anything that throws the world into chaos attracts the Fel, and none more so than death.**_

 _Arthas looked down at her, a slight grin on his face, "I win."_

 _ **This is, in part, what makes combating practitioners of Fel magic, "Warlocks", so hard to combat, while the more complex the creature is (with sentient creatures such as Elves and Humans being the most complex on Azeroth) the stronger the reaction, even something as simple as a plant can be used to perform the sacrifice**_ _._

 _Well, something complex was dying right now._

 _Ruby reached up and placed a hand on Arthas's face, she wanted to make sure that it didn't miss._

 _Had it only really been a few hours since she pulled the same trick to keep Darion from realizing that she was casting a sleeping charm on him?_

 _Ruby tried focusing on the feeling of her life slipping away, of the cold blade stuck in her chest, and the warm blood leaking around it, and out her mouth and nose._

 _She offered it up to whatever would take it,_ _ **and something responded.**_

 _Ruby felt a euphoric rush flow through her body as she looked at Arthas, her mouth splitting in a massive grin, "No."_

 _And the she released the spell._

 _Arthas howled in pain, falling backwards as he did so in an attempt to escape Ruby's grasp, but she surged forward, riding the high of the fel energy, laughter bubbling forth as she kept her hold on the side of Arthas's face._

" _We'll both go together Arthas!"_

 _She shifted her hand, digging her thumb into his eye even as the flames licked his throat._

 _Eventually, though, Arthas was able to get his feet under her, and kick her off of him._

 _As she closed her eyes, feeling the last of the energy leave her, the last thing she saw was Arthas glare down at her, the left side his face a twisted mass of charred flesh and missing an eye._

 _Then she died in the dust._

 _She opened her eyes to a chamber, hundreds of people were bound around it, but three caught her eye._

 _The first was an old man with grey hair, a crown upon his head, a look of sadness on his face as he took her in._

 _The second was a blond haired young man, blue-green eyes wide with horror._

 _And the third was stocky, with greying brown hair, wearing golden armor with a blue mantle around it, and glowing blue eyes. He mouthed wordlessly in horror as he looked at her._

 _Then a voice echoed through the chamber, 'No! You don't get off that easily you little bitch! You! Go fetch me a scythe!'_

 _After what felt like an eternity, Ruby felt a tugging, it grew in intensity until she was wrenched upwards._

 _She rose, gripping onto the scythe her master had made for her, and walked outside to where the horse was._

 _Taking a knife from one of the Acolytes, she looked at the horse._

 _ **No! This isn't right!**_

 _Then she stabbed the horse in the throat._

 _ **Steadfast!**_

 _She raised the horse, and it's skin seemed to rot, turning a pale green, as it's mane was replaced with flames the same color._

" _Interesting, I wasn't expecting that to happen when you raised Steadfast."_

" _He's not Steadfast anymore, my lord."_

" _Oh?"_

" _He is my horse, and I am a Knight of Lordaeron, am I not?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Then I should name him after a characteristic that is important to me."_

" _True, so, what's his name?"_

 _Ruby turned to the prince, and in that moment couldn't think of anyone she wanted to serve more._

 _ **In that moment, Ruby couldn't think of anyone she hated more.**_

" _ **He's Despair."**_


	8. Chapter 8

_Ruby rode alongside Arthas, looking around._

" _So this is Quel'thalas, the land of the High Elves?"_

" _Yes, Ruby. Tell me, what do you think of it?"_

 _Ruby closed her eyes, letting her senses flow._

 _"There is much life here, my lord. There is so much left to burn…"_

" _Yes, there is. In fact, there is a town to the south, I want you to take a small detachment of ghouls and Death Knights to gather reinforcements."_

" _Of course, my king."_

 _Ruby broke off, riding with the other two as the ghouls followed behind._

" _Leave no one unraised. Even the children will have their use."_

 _They swept through the town like a tempest, tearing down doors and burning buildings. As Ruby walked into one building, a white haired man lunged at her, held in his hand was a crooked dagger, made from a green metal._

 _Ruby caught the hand, and started to pump flames through his body, he looked over at a corner._

" _Velann, take your sister and run!"_

 _Two people ran past her, both women, Ruby launched a ball of fire at them, only for a sheet of ice to rise in its way. She briefly saw one girl stagger, apparently the source of the spell._

 _The man died, beautiful green flames licking at the end of the bones, bereft of skin or flesh._

 _Ruby reached down to pick up the green dagger. She studied it for a moment, before sheathing it. She would be keeping it, because it was interesting._

 _With a careless gesture and a bit of will, the skeleton rose to follow after her. It grabbed a sword from the ground nearby, where one of the village's defenders had fallen and been raised as a ghoul._

 _Ruby burst down the next house's door. She searched briefly before finding a woman in huddling in a corner, hugging her two children._

" _Come on, let's play a game."_

 _Flames licked at the edge of the scythe._

" _It's called, "Which do you like more?"._

 _An hour past quickly. Ruby looked over the remnants of the village. She searched briefly through it for any more corpses to raise. She then clicked her fingers, lighting the remaining houses. After she was done here, all that would remain would be ash._

 _You are needed._

 _She turned to the new soldiers she had created, "Come on, let's go."_

-X Line Break X-

Ruby grunted as she was sent flying back, gripping the glaive again.

"Should we take a rest, Deathlord?"

"No!"

Blake had fought her to a standstill, _Blake_ , a first year student! If it had been anyone higher they could have won that fight.

"Deathlord, we have been at this for the last six hours, and Velann had something she wanted to speak to you about."

"Velann can wait! AGAIN!"

She threw herself forward, bringing her blade against Trollbane and ducking under Trol'kalar.

The absurdity of naming your weapons the same thing in two different languages was one of the things Sally and her agreed on.

Ruby grit her teeth, she had gotten too complacent, rarely going out to fight unless she needed to abate the Endless Hunger. That was unacceptable, she had reached her rank because of her skill in combat, Bolvar had called her to Icecrown because of her skill. She was a weapon, and she had let herself get dull.

How long would it take to whip herself back into shape? How long would she go without sleep? A month, or two?

She didn't want to have to resort to Crescent Rose unless it was absolutely necessary, the cursed blade of her beloved scythe was too dangerous for a regular fight.

Perhaps she would go back to her original Runeblade, modified and enhanced to a level beyond any other, except for Frostmourne, Shadowmourne and Felo'melorn.

It had been through Ruby's constant tinkering with her own blade, (reforging it with stronger metals, using it against powerful beings that had magic in their very flesh, using different forging techniques and different materials and magics with each reforge) that they had discovered how to let Death Knights of the third generation and beyond change their weapon.

Ruby rolled with the blow as she was sent flying again.

If the Scourge was somehow on Remnant, Ruby couldn't afford to be slacking, every moment not spent training the students put under her mentorship would be spent either training with the best the Ebon Blade had, or reading through tomes.

"Again!"

"Deathlord…"

"I said, again!"

"Ruby? What happened to your clothes?" Tai said. Zwei barked from the feet of her family. They all were there, with concern and love on their faces.

Ruby turned, seeing her family's faces, "What are you doing here?"

Then she took in what he said, and looked down at the torn clothing.

"Just been training, don't worry about it. So, what's up?"

"We know."

"About me and Blake? I'm really sorry about that, how is she by the way?"

"She's recovering well kiddo, but no that's not what we mean."

"About torturing the White Fang member? Listen we-"

"-Can deal with that latter. Why didn't you tell us about Azeroth?"

Ruby froze, and she was sure that, had she been alive, her heart would have been thundering in her throat.

"How?"

"Velann."

Of course, of fucking course Velann would be the one to screw her over. Velann always seemed to think she knew what was best because she was a couple centuries older than Ruby.

Well, Velann hadn't been the one who stopped Arthas, had she? She didn't cling to a massive dragon's back as it flew to end the world, or made sure that Anduin didn't run off and get himself killed.

"Really."

"Ruby-"

"Here to condemn me for what I did?"

"No we-"

"Are here to pity me? I don't need that either, go see Blake if you are looking for someone to feel sorry for."

"We just want to talk!"

"So talk. I'll continue to train while you do." Ruby sneered at them.

Despite their insistence, Ruby knew they would judge her, she could count the non-death knights who hadn't judged her on one hand.

Weiss, Anduin, and Illidan.

Ruby turned to the Four, "Nazgrim, your turn!"

Nazgrim looked at Tirion who shook his head, the traitor.

"We are needed elsewhere, Deathlord."

Of course they were.

She turned back to her family, "Fine, let's talk."

-X LINE BREAK X-

Yang sat outside Acherus after the discussion, thinking it over.

Ruby had leapt at every occasion to assume they thought the worst of her, defending her actions when there was no need.

"I need to apologize for her." a voice spoke from behind her.

It was one of the four who had been there when they arrived, grey hair and a beard framed a face weathered by age. He had clearly been an old man when he died.

"Ruby has had a hard life. Too often have people judged her for what she does, not what she gives."

"Who are you?"

"Tirion Fordring, it's nice to meet you, Yang."

"The Paladin from Light's Hope?"

"I'm not much of a Paladin anymore, but yes, that was me."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, I was too slow to stop Ruby from getting into this mess."

Silence stretched between them, before Yang asked him a question.

"What did you mean before? About Ruby being judged for what she does, and not what she gives?"

"At some point along the way, Ruby made a decision that there was no sacrifice too high, and no depth too low, to save everything."

"Why?"

"She held back when she was fighting Arthas. He'd been her friend, and she didn't want to kill him. That cost her her life."

Yang flinched at that, while there was a massive weight off her to know that she hadn't failed her sister (something her and Ruby would be having a long talk about), it hurt in a completely different way to know that Ruby had died convinced that, even had she survived, she would never see them again.

"But she hurt Blake!"

"You must remember, to Ruby, the Scourge coming back is the greatest nightmare she could imagine. She spent nine years as a monster because of them. And from what I've heard, a Scourge invasion on Remnant would be significantly worse than the one on Azeroth."

"Why? I get that your guy's world was different than our but-"

"It would attract Grimm."

What? Grimm weren't attracted to death, they were attracted to negative emotions, like anger, or-

"-Fear," Yang breathed out. Of course, Grimm were attracted to fear, and there was little scarier than the dead standing back up to form an army to kill everyone.

How many times had Ruby slept in Yang's room after watching a zombie movie when they were younger?

The Huntsmen would be left fighting a war on two fronts, and they were barely starting to push back the one they were currently fighting even with Atlas's developments.

"Even worse, there is no Lich King."

"Why?"

"Without the Lich King, the Scourge is free to do what it would, and all but a few members want to see all worlds burn."

"There are members who don't?"

"Well, I am here, am I not?"

"You?"

"I was raised to serve Bolvar Fordragon, the third Lich King. With him dead, I decided to serve the highest ranking member of the Scourge."

"Ruby?"

"Yes."

"But, she left the Scourge, you helped free her."

"She rejoined it temporarily. When the Legion invaded, Bolvar offered her the full support and weapons of the Scourge if she did so. That is why we refer to her as Deathlord, we do not serve the Ebon Blade, if a new Lich King- or Queen- was named we would serve them."

"Is that possible?"

"Yes."

Yang checked the time, "I need to go, thanks for explaining all this to me."

"If you ever have questions, don't hesitate to ask."

-X LINE BREAK X-

Blake shifted, trying to get comfortable in the hospital bed she was seated in.

She was going to be released later today, _if_ they could find Ruby, who had apparently been put in charge of her medical care since she didn't give a parent or guardian when she signed up at Beacon.

While Blake was pretty sure that the Beacon teachers could have gotten her out of here if they wanted to, but they apparently wanted Ruby and Blake to talk about what happened.

Blake felt a rush of guilt as she thought about her friend. The medical reports had made it clear that Ruby hadn't been aiming to maim Blake during their fight, the burns were minor, though unnaturally painful.

Blake compared that with the last image she had of Ruby, staggering around blind, listening to voices nobody could hear to find her lost arm.

She hoped that Ruby's ability to heal would extend that far, she didn't think she could face Yang if she had crippled her little sister.

A gentle knocking came from the doorway, "How are you doing Kitten?"

Blake rolled her eyes, of course Yang would start calling her something like- YANG!

Blake looked over to where her partner was leaning against the door, wearing a dress, another draped over her arm.

"What are you doing here?"

She had been insistent that Yang not be allowed to see her, at least until she could get everything settled with Ruby.

"We're here to pick you up!"

"We?"

"Yeah, Ruby's finishing up the paperwork now!"

"Is she alright?"

"Depends, physically she's fine, but she's also really angry at Velann, and grumbling about Weiss dragging us out to some fancy Atlesian restaurant as a 'team building exercise'."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Blake felt relief flood her, Ruby was ok.

"Come on, let's get you changed, I've got a lot to tell you while that happens."

As Yang helped Blake change out of her medical scrubs, she chattered away, giving Blake the quick rundown of what she missed, before launching into the parts she liked the most as they walked to the front desk.

"-so they're all standing there in the Fel Hammer, the portal is closed, and Altruis goes 'well fuck, what do we do now?'. Darion takes temporary control of the Ebon Blade back, Vandel takes charge of the Illidari, and everyone is sweating bullets because they just lost two of Azeroth's greatest heroes in Legion territory. Two days later, a portal opens up, and spits Ruby and Illidan, covered in demon blood, out on the floor. Then Ruby leans over, kissed him on the cheek, and says 'We should do that again sometime', and walks off!"

Blake rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, "Somehow, I doubt that was all true."

"That's because it isn't, first, _Illidan_ was the one covered in blood, I just had one of my hands coated in the stuff. Second, it was on the lips, thus starting the months long struggle to figure out how to do that without cutting myself on his teeth."

Ruby was sitting in a seat in the waiting area, reading a book and chuckling.

"Oh, Illidan, what were you doing?"

"Whatcha reading there sis?"

"'The Emerald Dream: Fact or Carefully Planned Out Farce Perpetrated By My Brother' by Illidan Stormrage."

"Really?" Blake deadpanned.

"Yeah, I'll lend it to you after, It's a pretty good read, if you ignore the occasional rant about how superior Illidan was to Malfurion."

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself, come on, Weiss is waiting for us.

As they walked out of the hospital, Blake noticed something. Ruby had the faint smell of hair dye on her.

-X LINE BREAK X - 

" _Wizards of the Kirin Tor! I am Arthas, first of the Lich King's death knights! I demand that you open your gates and surrender to the might of the Scourge!"_

 _Ruby watched as an old man stood atop Dalaran's walls, she recognized him from Jaina's stories, Antonidas, Archmage, and leader of the Kirin Tor._

 _If there was anyone out there who could stop Arthas it would be him._

" _Greetings, Prince Arthas. How fares your noble father?"_

 _Ruby could feel the sarcasm from that question._

" _Lord Antonidas. There's no need to be snide."_

 _Was it just her, or had Arthas sounded guilty when he said that?_

" _And you, Ruby Rose! Both Jaina and Kael'thas had such high hopes for you, they begged me to allow you safe passage into the city when this started. Instead you use the lesson they gave you to lay waste to thousands of lives, destroying Kael'thas home!"  
_

" _I'll repay them for their lessons when they too serve the Lich King!"_

 _Jaina, Kael, I'm sorry._

 _Finally the elderly mage locked eyes with the Kel'thuzad, "Nothing to say to your old colleague, Antonidas?"_

" _I have nothing to say to you traitor!"_

 _He turned back to Arthas, "We've prepared for your coming, Arthas. My brethren and I have erected auras that will destroy any undead that pass through them!"_

" _Your petty magics will not stop me, Antonidas."  
_

" _Pull your troops back, or we will be forced to unleash our full powers against you! Make your choice, death knight."  
_

 _Antonidas disappeared, teleporting away into the heart of the city._

 _"I sense that three separate wizards are maintaining these auras. If you find and kill them, the auras will disperse." spoke up Kel'thuzad._

" _Then let us get to work."_

 _-X LINE BREAK X -_

 _The city burned as the mage and Death Knight clashed._

 _Flames, brilliant red and ghostly green smashed into each other above them, as blade and staff clashed below._

 _Rhonin felt sweat cover his body, though from the heat or exhaustion he did not know._

 _How was this girl standing up to him? He had fought off demons before, during the War of the Ancients!_

 _He launched blast after blast of fire at her, each and every one was met with a retaliatory blast._

 _He needed to finish this, quickly, he could feel Antonidas fighting, the blizzards the Archmage was throwing around couldn't be missed._

 _He ducked under another sweep of the scythe, fire trailing in its wake, and smashed the butt of his staff, sheathed in fire, into the girl's stomach._

 _The girl shrieked, skittering back as the flames ate at her flesh._

 _So they didn't like fire, good to know._

" _Little girls really shouldn't play with fire, they might get burned!"_

 _Then the girl raised her hand and brought it down, and flames rained from the sky._

" _Or we could burn someone else!" her voice was sweet, full of faux-innocence._

 _As Rhonin fired down what he could, and dodged what he couldn't, he felt Antonidas stop casting, wha-?_

" _Do I have too? I'm in the middle of playing with someone!"_

 _What was that girl talking about?_

" _Ok, fine, I'm coming."_

 _The girl waved her hand at a wall, searing something into it, before creating a ring of fire around Rhonin._

 _Then she wandered off. After the flames dispersed, Rhonin looked at the wall, burned in it, in large blocky letter were two words._

' _KILL ME'_

-X LINE BREAK X-

Weiss looked around the table where her team sat, eating. It was like a tension she had not noticed until that point had been lifted.

Ruby was reciting complex equations from memory, drawing them out on a napkin for Weiss's benefit.

While Weiss was appreciative of her friend's attempt to teach her these things, Weiss was never the best at physics, despite her father hiring the best tutors money could buy.

It was enough for her to pass her classes, but 'the exact formula for creating a ball of fire in close proximity to yourself in a wind storm without being burned' was a bit too much.

It made sense that Ruby would love this stuff. Both weapons engineering and sniping involved large amounts of variables and equations. Even before her disappearance, Ruby had been near the top of the class in mathematics, her grade being hampered by her dislike of homework.

Yang had tuned out Ruby long ago, having plugged a pair of headphones into her scroll while she waited for the food to get there.

Blake meanwhile, was hanging off every word Ruby was saying, and asking questions about it. The conversation went over Weiss's head extremely quickly. It also gave some more insight into the one that had once held the title of her most mysterious teammate.

A bottle of wine was brought out to them by a waiter, apparently complementary. Weiss was used to this, restaurants would try to impress her family in the hopes that they would come back.

As Ruby poured a glass the liquid glowed slightly, normally a sign of Dust being added to it in some way. Ruby paused, before bringing the cup to her nose and inhaling.

"A tip. When you attempt to poison someone's friends, don't use a poison they designed."

"I don't know what you mean, Ma'am!"

"Don't lie to me. I made this poison, I bet you don't even know what it does."

Ruby stalked around the waiter, the glass still held in her hand.

"This poison causes the rapid onset of necrosis once it enters the bloodstream, within two painful hours of the time of administration, major organs start to fail. After that point the necrotic energy left behind is immediately used to bring the corpse back." Ruby stopped in front of the man, holding out the cup, "Would you like a drink?"

"Ruby, don't do this again!" Blake stood up, gently pushing Ruby's hand downward.

"He just tried to kill you, Blake."

"I know, it's fine, this isn't the first time someone tried to poison me."

What? Someone had attempted to poison Blake before? Was it because of her work with the White Fang or something else?

The man spoke out, "I'm telling the truth! Please, I was told to bring this out by someone else!"

"If that is true… then you would have no problem pointing them out to me, right?"

"Yes! Come with me!"

They disappeared into the back room.

-X LINE BREAK X-

" _I'd be a lot more careful about where you plan these things."_

 _Sylvanas turned, alongside the Dreadlords, to look at Ruby._

 _Oh, how Sylvanas hated the girl, with her childlike glee at butchering innocent lives for Arthas. When her betrayal came, she would enjoy firing the arrow that ended the silver eyed girl's life._

 _If, she had a chance to perform her betrayal._

" _Here to spy on us, are you?"_

" _If I was, you wouldn't have known I was here in the first place. No, I'm just here to warn you that the Lich King has eyes and ears everywhere, and you might want to rethink where you have these meetings."_

" _Are you not one of the Lich King's servants, you serve him so loyally, almost like a pet."_

" _Normally, yes, but I have managed to gather enough energy to slip my leash for a few minutes, to ask you a favor."_

" _What favor could I possibly give you?"_

" _One day, if you get to pull off this betrayal and survive, and have a clear shot, take it."_

" _You wish for me to kill you?"_

" _Do you think I enjoy this anymore than you do?"_

 _Sylvanas had thought that, she never had any reason to believe otherwise, since she first saw Ruby knee deep in still warm bodies._

" _Very well."_

 _It was fine, there was no need to diverge from her plan._

Velvet turned at the sound, it was like a strange combination of a whimper of pain, and a feral growl.

"Yats, did you hear that?"

Yatsuhashi turned around cocking an ear.

The noise came again, growing in intensity, allowing Velvet to locate its point of origin.

It was coming from a room nearby, one that Velvet lead to the room where they kept Grimm for Port's class.

Velvet opened the door, looking in. Curled up on the floor was Ruby, convulsions raking her body. Ruby opened her mouth, and _something_ that Velvet didn't want to know spilled from her lips.

Yatsuhashi pushed Velvet out of the way, rushing to the girl's side.

"She's having a seizure!"

"No… Fucking… Shit…"

Velvet blinked, Ruby was talking? Weren't people supposed to lose all control when they had a seizure?

She expressed the question aloud, and Yatsuhashi shook his head, "Don't believe everything you see on television, Vel."

"Open… the fucking… cages…"

"What?"

"Gotta… Kill Grimm…"

"What are you talking about! We need to get you to the hospital!"

"Won't help."

Velvet looked over at the release switch, which Ruby seemed to be desperately trying to crawl towards as she spasmed.

Making her decision Velvet ran over to the switch and slammed it down.

The minute the first Grimm, an Ursa, stepped out, Ruby was upon it. It was less like watching a human fight a Grimm, and more like watching a predator rip apart its prey.

Fingers dug into the bone plate covering the beast's face, and with inhuman strength, _slowly_ started to tear it off.

The Grimm roared, thrashing around as it attempted to throw Ruby off. The young woman laughed and gripping on harder.

As she tore the bone plate from the flesh a King Taiju rose up behind her. Velvet moved forward, ready to stop it, only to stop as Ruby span and used bone as an impromptu guillotine.

Yatsuhashi discreetly backed up, standing slightly in front of Velvet, as the younger woman seemed to lose all reason.

Grimm after Grimm attempted to attack Ruby, and each was torn apart in turn. Organs were torn from their proper home, Grimm were hoisted into the air and torn in two, and all the while Ruby carried on a mad, unstable laugh.

Eventually, she started to settle down, huffing gently, and turned to look at them.

"Sorry about that, I avoid it when I can."

She pushed past them, out of the room.

" _You look different, Illidan. I guess the Skull of Gul'dan didn't agree with you."_

' _So this, is the infamous Illidan Stormrage', thought Anub'arak as he looked at the being before him._

 _His entire skin looked to be almost chitinous in appearance, his arms ended in claws, his feet were cloven, horns sprouted from his head and wings from his back._

 _The beast threw back its head and laughed, "On the contrary, I have never felt better. In a way, I suppose I should thank you for my present state, Arthas."_

" _Show your appreciation by stepping out of the way, then. The Frozen Throne is mine, demon. Step aside. Leave this world and never return. If you do, I'll be waiting."_

" _We both have our masters, boy. Mine demands the destruction of the Frozen Throne. It would seem we are at odds."_

 _A sneer split the face of the young prince, "I don't have time to deal with this. Ruby, deal with the Night Elf! Anub'arak, assist her!"_

 _Illidan rushed forward, only to be stopped as a flaming scythe whirled into his path._

 _Anub'Arak noticed Arthas slip through the gap in the doors before they slid shut._

" _Didn't you hear Arthas? If you wish to stop him, you need to fight your way through us."_

 _Illidan flew into the air as fire burst from the scythe in a spiral, before flying back towards the girl at Anub'arak's side._

 _Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in the Traitor King's side, and he looked down._

' _Where had that dagger come from?'_

 _And then fire consumed him._

 _Kael'thas rushed alongside Vashj to where he felt Illidan clashing with someone else._

 _Maiev was on their tail again, and they needed to leave._

 _He stopped as he saw the two of them._

' _Is that Ruby?'_

 _The girl was matching Illidan blow for blow, a scythe, missing some of it's handle, in one hand, while a dagger sat in the other._

 _There was a burning Nubarian off to the side, and the battlefield was scored with arcs of fire._

 _As he watched the fight, Kael'thas couldn't suppress the pride as he watched his student fight._

 _She was using every trick in the book to keep up with the half demon, spikes of bone burst from the ground whenever Illidan landed, and when he stayed in the air torrents of fire lashed at his wings._

 _Corpses stood and charged at Illidan as one of the spikes successful dug into his legs._

" _ENOUGH!"_

 _An explosion of Fel fire burst from the Illidan, shattering the bone and burning the corpses._

 _Ruby slammed her scythe into the ground, and flames came up, like the maw of a dragon, to consume Illidan._

 _The half demon burst from the flames, the edge of his blindfold on fire as he clashed with Ruby again._

 _Lady Vashj spoke out, "Lord Illidan, the Warden approaches, we must leave!"_

 _Illidan grit his teeth in rage, "How long do we have?"_

" _Minutes at best."_

" _That won't be enough time to open a portal to Outland!"_

 _A new voice spoke up, "_ _ **Is this Warden a Night Elf?"**_

 _They looked at Ruby, who had a look of hope on her face._

" _Yes."_

" _ **I'll hold her off, you get out of here**_ _."_

 _She stepped forward, pressing a finger against Illidan's chest, "_ _ **Stop Arthas, no matter what it takes, no matter who you have to work with, make sure he doesn't win."**_

 _She looked over at Kael'thas, "_ _ **Kael, I'm sorry."**_

 _She yanked the scythe out of the ice, and started to walk towards the figure in the distance._

 _Kael'thas stepped forward, a hand stretched out, "Ruby! We'll come back-"_

" _ **Kael**_ _," Ruby turned to look at him, a heartbreaking smile on her lips, "_ _ **Don't make promises you can't keep."**_

 _Kael felt a rush of self loathing as the girl walked away. He hadn't been able to save Quel'thalas, or Dalaran, or even one little girl._

 _How could he help stop Arthas and the Legion if he couldn't even do that?_

Anduin toyed with the locket, in it were three portraits, one of his father, one of his mother, and one of the only ones Ruby ever allowed to be made of herself.

He remembered the first time he spoke to the Death Knight, having been captured by the Horde on Pandaria, only for the woman to walk into the camp and butcher them all. Then, strangely enough, she made no attempts to force him back to Stormwind, preferring to lurk in the shadows and eliminate any threats that attacked him.

When he had asked her about it, she had responded that he would never grow up if he didn't make mistakes.

Pain stabbed out from his leg, and his grip on his cane tightened, he had learned that lesson well at the hands of Garrosh.

Khadgar and Kalecgos were focused on keeping the engine, powered by a Naaru and a shard of the Vision of Time from shutting down. Yrel was focused on keeping on the ship on track alongside the other Draenei sent with her.

Ruby had given everything for Azeroth, now it was time for them to give something for her.

 _Ruby grunted as she was slammed against the wall, shackles locking around her arms and legs as the blindfold wrapped around her head._

" _Our king to allow me to use you for my experiments as punishment for your betrayal."_

 _Ruby didn't say anything, she wouldn't give Kel'thuzad the satisfaction._

" _We'll be getting to know each other rather well."_

 _She heard the lich pick something up._

" _Let's get started, shall we? We'll start by figuring out to heal up that injury that you gave Arthas."_

 _Pain spread as the knife slipped into Ruby chest and was brought down, then her breastbone was split open and something was torn from her chest, at the same time, in the shadowlands, a shade sug a knife into her soul_

 _Ruby hung from the chains, how long had she been there?_

 _She had lost track a long time ago._

 _The door opened, and Ruby squinted as the blindfold was taken off. Her the shackles fell off and she fell upon the Acolytes that fread her, tearing them to pieces._

 _Kel'thuzad held up a needle._

" _The Lich King has decided to allow you another chance with a new group he has formed, and I have decided to leave you with a parting gift."_

 _Ruby felt the familiar feeling of a needle biting into her upper eyelid, and vision disappeared from her left eye._

" _Come along, it's time to meet your comrades, you know one of them."_

 _Ruby followed along, adjusting to walking for the first time in a while._

" _We've been quite busy over the last two years." Well, that answered one question._

 _As she walked into the room, she stared at the group._

 _She didn't recognize two of them but she definitely recognized the third._

 _He had started to bald since she last saw him, and had picked up a massive sword._

" _Hello Ruby."_

" _Hello Alexandros."_

 _The Pale Horsewoman met the eyes of the Red._


	9. Chapter 9

Re-posting this because I forgot to finish formatting it.

For those who don't know, I post this on Spacebattles, and shifting it from being ready for here from there is a pain in the ass, so we're often a couple chapters ahead of the thread until I can find time to reformat it.

-X LINE BREAK X-

"-They are starting to become an… _annoyance_."

That, in Roman's personal opinion, summed up what was going on nicely. Red and her group of friends seemed to be going around screwing up all their plans without even intending to.

When he expressed that opinion aloud, Taurus chuckled, "She seems to be good at that doesn't she? She stopped an assassination attempt I had on the SDC's heiress and a traitor to the White Fang a few hours ago."

"Need I remind you, that those Paladins were for you?"

"We'll be able to work without them, the White Fang has been doing better than ever. I've almost unified them, and we have new recruits coming in."

Roman scoffed "Besides the mess with the Paladins, my end of things has been going well. The Train is being prepped and we have secured the tunnels, for now. Unlike yourself, Mutt. What's wrong, got a cold?"

Streaks of white had started to appear in the Faunus's hair since the last meeting, and he seemed to be shivering slightly.

"Shut up, Torchwick." Taurus snapped at Roman.

"In case you two have forgotten, Emerald, Mercury, Neo and I are supposed to be undercover until the Vytal festival, so I can't be running out here for every problem you two have, I need you to behave while we are gone." Cinder cut in, the sleeves of her dress lighting up, reminding Roman that she could probably end either of them in seconds. Taurus looked ready to argue, before settling down.

"Of course."

"Right, right, whatever you say."

"Roman, you never told me about how the elimination of that rogue element went."

"Uh- About that, they may have, uh, escaped."

"Where?"

Roman mumbled out the answer, and he could feel all the eyes on him.

"Do I need to remind you, that he has sensitive data about the White Fang, including what actually happened to Irving Henderson?"

"So?"

"If they find out that the previous leader wasn't killed by an Anti-Faunus extremist, and instead was killed by the man championing a crusade to avenge his death, we will lose a lot of the White Fang, which I need for my plans."

"We can use Neo! She got in before, right- Why are you shaking your head like that?"

Neo pulled out her scroll typing something out, rapidly.

'I don't think I could do it again.'

"Why not?"

'They're looking for something, They probably realized I took that metal and are on guard now.'

"This is a really big reaction over a piece of metal."

Neo typed out her response, 'which is weird because they they didn't have it well guarded beyond their weird zombie things.'

 **You're welcome.**

Came a smug voice.

Neo shook her head, the voice had appeared recently, as if she didn't have enough thing to mention to whatever therapist she hired when she left for… wherever she would go next, she heard Vacuo was nice this time of year.

 **Oh, sure ignore me, that's nice. I bet the other ones aren't having this much trouble with their hosts. This is what happens when you base your entire plan around one girl you're responsible for getting fucked up, Azeroth, you hear!? Fucking bitch. Are they almost done? I'm bored, we should go find some treasure. You didn't grab any other than that hunk of metal when we were in that vault. You're welcome for that by the way, without me you would be a soulless husk like bull-boy over there. Do you guys have banks? If so we should raid one, that's where all the adventurers keep their cool stuff in my experience**.

'Would you shut up?'

 **Hey! You're actually acknowledging my existence! This is step one for a healthy working relationship between us! And trust me, if it takes anywhere near as long for Remnant to wake up as it did for Azeroth, we're going to be hanging out for a loooooonnnnnngggggg time, partner**.

She hoped that wasn't true, she wasn't sure how long she would be able to remain sane with this annoyance in her head.

 **Come on it's not that bad, Red got tied up with a walking corpse as part of Azeroth's grand scheme, now** _ **that**_ **is a "What the hell were you thinking" moment, I know that we got given to her by the other Titans, and she had Elune do this to Kalecgos before, but seriously, at least the other ones knew what they were doing, well, except Khaz'goroth, but fuck him.**

'What are you?'

 **Not sure myself, I'm pretty sure we're** _ **not**_ **supposed to be sentient, Azeroth added that in as a failsafe in case Sargeras's Boogeyman corrupted one of you idiots again. Lock you out from the connection. Fucking weak willed piles of shit that you are.**

"We're done here."

Neo trailed behind 'her team.'

 **Speaking of the Parasites, what's up with, what's-her-name, the one in the dress, Ash? I don't know, I can barely be bothered to remember your name. Point is, she's got some signs of corruption.**

'Don't know, don't care so long as I get payed.'

 **I can appreciate that outlook.**

At least they had one thing in common.

\- X LINE BREAK X -

Blake walked down the halls of Beacon, a pair of mugs in hand. She was heading towards the set of rooms the Ebon Blade had commandeered for their use.

To be fair, nobody had been using them in the first place. They had been a set of dorm rooms connected to a communal living room/kitchenette combination, similar to what Teams JNPR, CRDL and RWBY shared, that had been forgotten and fallen into disrepair over the years. Beacon had once housed a lot more students than they did now, technology making it so less people felt the need to sign up to learn to be Huntsmen.

Blake looked around as she walked into the room, it had always surprised her how low-tech they operated. The only technology in the room was the refrigerator, even the lights and stove had been gutted, replaced with candles, and a wood stove they had moved in from Acherus.

Pinned against one wall was a set of maps, job locations and who was on them pinned against a large map of Remnant.

The chairs and sofas that had been there were replaced with new ones, bought with some of the money the Knights made doing missions.

Velann was thrown across the couch, dead to the world. Her arm hanging limply off the the side.

"Is she alright?"

Malag looked up from where he was cooking… something.

"Oh, she'll be fine, Ruby's never killed her before, I doubt she did it this time."

"I don't know mon, da elf has never been out for dis long."

A faint groan of pain came from Velann's direction, but the elf didn't move.

"See? She'll be fine, you worry too much Zaala."

"Right, have you seen Ruby? Nobody has seen her since yesterday, classes start soon."

"She's in dere," the Troll gestured behind her, towards one of the rooms, "been trying to figure out something all night."

"Did she say what?"

"Someting bout transcripts."

"Thanks."

Blake walked into the room to see Ruby sprawled across a chair, talking into her scroll and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Listen, it isn't all that hard of a question, can you send me the transcript of Jaune Arc?... Because I _am_ looking at my copy and something isn't lining up!"

Blake watched in amusement as she listened to the one sided argument.

"Yes, thank you, I'll try them."

Ruby threw her scroll onto the desk before unleashing a slew of phrases Blake could only assume were swears.

Walking over, Blake put down the mug meant for her friend.

"Everything all right?"

"No!"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to figure out how someone who had great scores in his combat classes is doing so bad now!"

"Jaune was doing well?"

"Bs"

"What's he got now?"

"Ds"

"He fell a whole grade?"

"More."

"That's... weird."

"Yeah. Whatcha need, Blakey?"

"It's almost time for classes."

"Really?"

"Yes, nobody had seen you, we were worried something had happened."

"Don't worry, Zaala has a scroll now, if my Aura suddenly drops it's set to inform her so she can reconnect me."

"Zaala?"

"She's better at the actual dead raising part of Necromancy than Velann."

"So you've been trying to get your hands on another version of Jaune's transcript all night?"

"No, I've been working on other stuff."

"Like this file?"

It was funny to watch Ruby's eyes snap open and lock onto her.

"Blake! Don't go reading my stuff!"

"I can't read it, it's all in this gibberish."

"Runic Common, I got used to writing in it back when I had to send messages."

"It makes Weiss angry, she can never tell if you're actually taking notes or just drawing random things."

"Yeah, well-"

"What is this about? You've got, seven different versions of Remnant with lines scrawled across it."

"Ok, that one is fine, I'm trying to trace out Remnant's Ley Lines."

"Ley Lines?"

"Imagine giant blood vessels under the ground, except instead of blood they're carrying pure Arcane energy. Even one Ley Line can augment a spell beyond what a mortal could ever hope to perform. If you can find a place where several converge? Let's put it this way, I'm mediocre at best when it comes to frost magic, I could still probably turn Vale into a giant popsicle."

"Why are you trying to figure that out?"

"I'm trying to see if there are any active convergences near Vale, if there is, I'd be willing to bet that our mysterious Necromancer is using it. It's what I would do… what I _did_ do back on Outland."

"Outland?"

"I'll explain while we go to class."

\- X LINE BREAK X -

 _Ruby gently ran her finger down the new runic tattoos marking her skin._

" _How much longer is this supposed to take?"_

 _No answer._

" _Can you at least tell me what you want me to do? You called me up here, had someone replace me in Naxxramas, then nothing."_

 _ **We need a foothold on Kalimdor.**_

" _Arthas, I hate to tell you this, but we're on Northrend."_

 _A spike of amusement._

 _ **Thank you Ruby, I was unaware of that.**_

" _You're welcome!"_

 _ **Never have I had cause to regret bringing you back, Ruby. Always, you find ways to amuse me.**_

" _What about that time with Stormrage?"_

 _ **A minor setback. The fool can never stop me.**_

" _Of course."_

 _ **It is ready.**_

" _Then why didn't you just tell me it would be done soon?"_

 _ **I was unaware that it was this close to completion. Now, step out onto the balcony**_ _._

 _Ruby felt her eyebrows hike up as she looked at the Necropolis in front of her._

 _ **Avernus. It will be your base of operations on Kalimdor.**_

" _Where are we going to first?"_

 _ **The Stonetalon mountains.**_

" _Why there?"_

 _ **It will give you easy access to several important Horde locations, and supplies to make fortifications.**_

" _Weaponry?"_

 _ **This will be our first test of the Plague cannons.**_

" _Starting forces?"_

 _ **Two Death Knights, three flesh golems, and several hundred ghouls, geists and skeletons.**_

" _When do we head out?"_

 _ **Now, Deathlord**_ _._

" _I'll go meet the other two."_

 _Standing in the door was a pair of Death Knights._

" _Who are you two?"_

" _Darmus Redbrand."_

" _Pitwick Blackneedle."_

-X LINE BREAK X-

Thoras grunted bringing the machete down.

"Did they really need to land here?"

"It's a good base of operations, nobody wants to use this land, we can build up our defences in secret."

"I still don't see _why_ we need a base of operations."

"We need a foothold on Remnant, Ruby doesn't know we're only the vanguard."

"We're bringing in the army?"

"We might not have a choice, a thousand extra warriors might not be enough. If we don't do something quickly Remnant _will_ fall."

"You could help me with this."

"I'm following the signal."

"And the other two?"

"I believe in you Thoras!"

Apparently Whitemane was going to play cheerleader, probably to deliberately anger him. A deep rumbling growl came from the former king's chest.

"What about you Nazgrim?"

"Move over you two."

With two people cutting their way through the underbrush they quickly reached the end of the jungle. Only to stop at a pair of mountains in front of them.

"Don't tell me-

"They're on the other side of the mountain, there's a valley there."

"I hate this place."

"Why didn't we just land on the other side?

Would you look at that? Whitemane actually had a point.

"Because this was the side closer to Vale and their landing point, and there's a desert on the other side."

"... I hate this place _so_ much."

\- X LINE BREAK X-

Tirion looked around the meager base camp that had been set up around the lake, the ship off to the side.

"Tirion, so glad you could make it."

"Hello Khadgar, I wasn't expecting you here."

"Yes well, I'm used to being trapped on a different planet where everything wants you dead, I guess our patron wanted me for that."

"Not your skills in magic?"

"We have Kalecgos for that one."

"Where's everyone else?"

"The Vindicators are repairing the ship, we had a rather bumpy landing, and my familiars are scouring the area, I'm honestly surprised you didn't run into any of them."

"Please don't tell me that's all we have, securing this place will be impossible with so few."

"No, the rest are on the other side of the lake, working on a more permanent base."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be wasting supplies like that? Until we can get a working connection to Azeroth we're going to be low."

"We got lucky, there is an abandoned town, about a half a day each way. Ramshackle huts, we've been tearing it apart for extra supplies."

"Grimm?"

A third voice cut in, "I think they're scared of K'ara, they've been prowling around, but haven't actually attacked. Whenever they get too close, they start to act like Ruby does, clawing at their own flesh."

"Anduin!"

The _other_ former king Tirion knew limped out of one of the tents. A rough-hewn wooden cane clenched in hand. The specially made brace clamped onto his leg.

While he would never walk without assistance again, Anduin had gotten lucky, Ruby had gotten him away from the Divine Bell and taken the brunt of the injuries for it.

"Tirion, how is Ruby doing?"

"If we weren't trying to keep this a secret until we have a more stable position I'd send you to visit her, she's being moppy."

"Just let her, she'll run out of steam eventually, she always does."

\- X LINE BREAK X -

 _Crom looked down at where the Scourge were piling bodies up. She was there. He had waited four long year for this day._

" _Stand tall brothers! Vengeance awaits us!"_

 _He had gathered this team for that explicit purpose, everyone here had lost someone to the Scourge, everyone except for Shargresh, who had followed Crom here begging him to stop._

" _Lok'tar!"_

 _They charged into the valley. Even as the other members of the Horde fought off the other undead Crom didn't let up, charging for the girl._

 _She turned, and Crom had seconds to dive off his worg before spikes of bone burst forth level with where his throat would have been._

 _A cold breeze flowed, rustling her pale hair._

 _Crom lifted up his left arm, where a blade replaced the arm he had lost, pointing it at the girl._

" _Do you remember me?"_

" _No."_

" _You killed my brother."_

" _I've killed a lot of Orcs, do you really expect me to learn how every one of them was related?"_

" _His name was Duraro."_

" _I don't generally bother to learn their names either."_

" _You used your scythe to do it." Crom gritted his teeth, did she think this was a joke?_

" _That still doesn't narrow things down, I've killed a lot of people with this scythe."_

" _Not that one! The other one!"_

" _Other one?"_

" _The giant red one!"_

" _Oh! Him."_

" _Yes."_

" _Right… and I care why?"_

 _Crom ran forward with a roar and blade met dagger._

" _Because I will kill you, your father isn't here to save you this time!"_

" _I don't see a hallway for you to ambush me in, so I think I'll be fine."_

 _The dagger suddenly gave way and Crom staggered forward. Gripping an ax in his other hand he swung it at her head._

 _Storm clouds started to form and rain lashed the area._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Shargresh called his link to the elements, begging them to give him the strength necessary, and they responded._

 _Storm clouds started to form and rain lashed the area, energy gathering, waiting for release._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

 _The girl ducked under the swing of the ax, and Crom dodged back, forcing her to over extend._

 _The Orc leapt on the chance, bringing his ax down on her head, or at least he would have, had she not reoriented herself and dodged._

 _The ground started to shake, throwing them both off balance._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Shargresh raised his arms setting off a localized earthquake, and bringing the rocks of the mountain down on the undead's heads._

\- X LINE BREAK X-

 _The girl regained her balance first, charging forward, and attempting to bifurcate Crom with her scythe._

 _Crom brought his ax up, prepared to block the blow._

 _Fire burst from the earth, and Crom could feel its searing heat._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Shargresh clenched his fists shut, feeling sweat drip down his face as he called upon the fire._

 _The flames burned away the corpses of the fallen, the least he could do was keep them from being forced back._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _The heat distracted her long enough for Crom to regain his footing. And he brought both weapons to bear._

 _She dodging to the side and shattered the ax._

" _Any last words?"_

 _Crom raised his eyes to where Shargresh stood, body shaking from exertion. Everyone else was dead, there was no winning. He nodded to Shargresh._

 _Shargresh nodded back._

 _The Shaman brought his hands down, and the storm cloud that had been gathering released their payload as Crom thrust his bladed arm into the air._

 _There was no way that Shargresh could hear what the other Orc said, between the howl of the wind, and the monstrous blast of thunder._

 _The blast of pure primal energy burned Crom, even as it leapt from him to the gathering undead._

" _Ogar!"_

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

 _When the flash cleared, Shargresh stared, the most of the undead had been destroyed by the bolt, and he couldn't see Crom. Despite that, the girl was unharmed, staring up at him._

" _Your name it's… Shargresh, correct."_

 _She was so different from the girl he had helped kidnap in a desperate attempt at freedom. Her hair had turned white, and her eyes were soulless._

" _Yes."_

 _He would not show fear._

" _Run."_

" _I will not be sport for you and your men."_

 _The corner of her mouth tugged upward._

" _No, I mean run from this place, and tell everyone that it belongs to the Scourge."_

 _She turned, walking away, towards a skeletal gryphon. Saddling up she looked back at him, and there was a glimmer of something in her eye._

 _Hope._

" _Live."_

 _Then she was gone._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

"I'd leave him alone if I were you."

It was the second time in the span of two weeks he had heard that statement. Cardin turned to look at the Ruby, ignoring the Faunus scampering off.

"Or what? You'll sick your pet freak on me?"

"Pet freak?"

"That wolf man."

"Why would I sick… Uh… Darmus, what's that guy's name again?"

"York Carmine."

"Donovan's friend?"

"Yes."

"He's not like that annoying horndog is he?"

"Not from what I've seen."

"Good, I didn't want to have to skin him."

"Ruby, I'm pretty sure that's racist."

"Donovan never complained."

"Donovan was constantly trying to impress you."

"Don't remind me. Anyway, why would I sick Carmine on you?"

"He sure seemed ready to kill me a week back!"

"Darmus…"

"I'll go talk to him."

The smaller of the two wandered off, grumbling all the while.

Ruby's head swiveled back to Cardin.

"He'll be spoken to. Now, I'd suggest you stop doing that."

"Why? They're just filthy animals."

Swirls of glowing energy lit up under her skin, bright enough that they could be faintly seen under the black jacket of Beacon's uniform.

"Because I'll make whatever Carmine did look like a love tap."

Cardin braced himself.

"I'm not scared of you."

She gently laid her hand on his cheek.

"There's no shame in being afraid of me. Until recently I could count the people who _weren't_ on some level on both hands."

"Well, add one more."

She looked him in the eyes, amusement clear on her face.

"You remind me of some people I knew. They were both headstrong, racist, every time they met it would end in a fight."

"Is there a point to this?"

The pressure on his cheek tightened, did she really expect this to scare him?

"One of them managed to get over his racism, and temper himself. The other let his temper and racism consume him, and attempted to control something well beyond his understanding. So what I'm saying is this, at the moment I have the smallest bit of respect for you for standing your ground. But we have bigger problems, and we're all here to fight the Grimm, so if you become like the second man-

The hand had left his cheek and started to crush his throat in the blink of an eye.

"-I won't hesitate to put you down like I did him."

Cardin worked his mouth gathering saliva.

"Am. I. Clear?"

He spat it in her face, and she dropped him, raising her hand to wipe it off, and Cardin felt a rush of joy at the shocked look on her face.

"Crystal."

As he walked away, he could hear her start to chuckle.

"You're right Sylvanas, Garrosh did do the same thing."

\- X LINE BREAK X-

" _What are we looking at, Redbrand?"_

" _Hell if I know Deathlord. Everyone who's touched it has started to act weird."_

" _What sort of 'weird'?"_

" _Rambling, flaying each other's flesh off to create flags, speaking in tongues."_

" _Well, in my experience flaying someone has never bode well for much of fuckin' anything."_

 _ **You worked with Kel'thuzad.**_

" _I know what I said."_

 _Hope is an illusion._

 _Ruby stopped in the tunnel of the Scourge's quarry._

" _Did anyone else hear that?"_

" _Hear what?"_

 _ **You know they can't hear me unless I wish them to.**_

" _No, I mean- Never mind, let's keep going."_

 _They hadn't even gone a hundred feet when the next whisper came._

 _Your minions will abandon you._

 _Ruby gripped the green dagger in her hand. Something was up._

 _ **Ru- ca- -ion**_

 _Eventually they came to the end of the tunnel, where the thing was._

 _It was fleshy, that much was obvious, and large, even with it half buried in rock Ruby could tell that much._

 _Give into your fear._

 _Ruby started to walk towards it, hand reaching out._

 _ **RUBY!**_

 _Ruby stopped, and an inch above the tendral as Arthas took control of her body from her._

 _ **It's like the Forgotten One!**_

 _Ruby pulled back, letting Arthas use her as a mouthpiece._

" _ **I want everyone out, and the tunnel collapsed! We'll move the quarry to another location."**_

" _Are you sure Deathlord?"_

 _Ruby felt a spike of annoyance from the link, and she gently sent back a reminder that Redbrand didn't know who he was talking to._

" _ **Yes!"**_

" _Very well. Everyone out! If you're not before me and the Deathlord get out we will drop this on you!"_

 _The skeletons that had been mining ran out of the tunnel._

 _ **I will have the cult look into this, see if the Horde or Alliance know anything.**_

 _ **-** X LINE BREAK X **-**_

 _ **We found something.**_

" _You're going to be a lot more specific than that Arthas. Is there a secret Horde base we should know about? A reserve of Runeblades underneath Icecrown? The secret to reversing our premature greying from Necromancy?"_

 _ **About that thing you found under the mountain.**_

" _What do you have?"_

 _ **It is an Old God.**_

" _That… sounds significantly worse than a Forgotten One."_

 _ **It is.**_

" _So what do we do about it?"_

 _ **The Horde and Alliance are putting together a joint Task Force to see it dead. You, are going to offer our assistance.**_

" _Really? That bad?"_

 _ **It very nearly stole control from me. I want it dead.**_

 _Arthas actually sounded shaken by the events._

" _Ok, I'll ride out now, where are they?"_

 _ **Silithus**_ _._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Mitnus looked at the gathered men and women. Of course her damn brother wouldn't be there, he always did like avoiding work if he could. Probably why he jumped on the first chance to learn Fel magic and never looked back. Fel magic, and its practitioners, was viewed in very dim light in Dalaran. Him running off to consort with demons had left a mark on her record, one that had seen her passed up for apprenticeships time and time again for the past six years._

 _All the Gnomish mages always talked about how gifted Finkmink had been, how he could have joined the Kirin Tor in a matter of years, and probably gone on to be the first Gnomish member of the Council of Six. Mitnus was an afterthought. But that's why she was here, to prove that she was better than Finkmink ever was._

 _Saurfang stood at the front of the table, leading the meeting._

 _Suddenly there was a commotion on the other side of the door._

" _Halt!"_

" _Stop right there Death Knight! Don't come any closer!"_

 _Fuck. Like they needed that right now._

" _Stand aside. I'm not here to fight."_

" _Do you truly expect us to believe that? Fighting is all you monsters know how to do!"_

" _Does this mean you won't step aside?"_

" _Of course!"_

" _Why doesn't anyone ever do things the easy way?"_

" _What's that supposed to-?"_

 _The door burst down, one of the Orcs guarding it flying across the table, as the girl stepped in._

 _Mitnus recognized her, how could she not? She had been at Dalaran three years ago, watched her prepare to fight with Archmage Rhonin before shepherding civilians away. The only difference between then and now was her hair had turned silver instead of the red tipped black she had back then._

 _The other guard had scampered back, terrified._

" _Sorry about that. They wouldn't let me in."_

" _Why are you here?"_

" _The Lich King wishes to see the Old God of Ahn'Qiraj dead. Rather than launching our own individual assault he has seen it… prudent to have me offer my assistance to this combined effort."_

" _How can we trust you?"_

" _In all honesty, you can't, so you need to ask yourself one thing. How badly do you want to see the being in there dead. Because if that thing breaks out, you're going to have bigger problems than a single Death Knight."_

" _Point, very well, we shall work with you. But know this, the minute the monster is dead we shall be enemies._

" _I expected as much."_

" _All of you, break!"_

 _Mitnus walked outside, following the Death Knight, and a human warrior to a Silithid hive._

" _You have a lot of nerve showing your face around here, traitor."_

" _I'm sorry, do I know you?"_

" _No, but I know you. Your father helped protect Lordaeron for years, and you helped his murderer see it burn. He would have been ashamed to have ever taken you in if he survived long enough to know."_

 _It was the first time Mitnus ever saw anything other than amusement on the girl's face. A rictus of of anger, and she flexed her hands like she wanted nothing more than to wrap her hands around the fool's throat and squeeze._

" _I don't think you knew Uther half as well as you think you do if you believe that."_

 _"Or maybe you didn't, Uther hated all things evil. I can't think of a better definition of you."_

" _Don't test me."_

" _Why don't you go running back to your master? The Traitor Prince and his pet bitch, the perfect-"_

 _He was cut off as the girl surged forward, driving her dagger into his stomach._

" _You know nothing of what happened to me."_

 _She used her inhuman strength to shove him off the cliff into the nest. Then she squated down, watching whatever happened to him. Mitnus quietly and quickly left before she joined the man in the nest to die._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

"Before I start teaching you all this, you need to know, _all_ magic can have side effects, sometimes physical, other times mental, and, in sufficient amounts, spiritual."

Bartholomew sat in the corner of the classroom, ready to take notes.

After a long meeting with Qrow, Glynda, and James, Ozpin had come to Bartholomew, asking him to watch the optional class he intended to ask Ruby to teach.

Bartholomew wasn't a fool, he could tell 'watch' was a euphemism for 'spy'."

It had been touted as a class about 'combat styles from outside the Kingdoms', and several students had joined.

Today's lesson was on magic.

"We'll be briefly covering covering five branches of magic, and two branches of pseudo-magic. We're doing this because combat outside the Kingdoms, collectively referred to as Azerothian, place varying degrees of importance on them. Any questions so far?"

 _Azerothian: What the non-kingdom refer to themselves as, or call the world?_

"What do you mean by pseudo-magic?"

"They're close enough to magic in execution that you might not realize they aren't at first glance, but they're quite different, and their practitioners might get angry if you call it magic."

She walked over to the electronic board, drawing something along it as she continued to speak.

"The first, and perhaps most important, for all other major schools except for two branch out from it, is Arcane, which often takes the form of a white or purple color."

"The term for a user of Arcane magic is a mage. The first mages where the Kaldorei Highborne. Situated on the shores of a lake known as the Well of Eternity, they had the greatest font of arcane energy at their fingertips. And, being power-hungry morons, blew it up. The resulting shockwave reshaped the area, and scattered Arcane infused water to the four corners of Aze- er- Remnant."

 _Azeroth=Non-kingdoms names for Remnant confirmed, Magic can have results that are predictable and observable, but has a chaotic element that randomize it and personalizes it. Can be infused into water, (Use of Aura?)_

"However, due to one of the Highborne's students, Illidan Stormrage, seven vials of water from the Well survived. Climbing to the top of Mount Hyjal, he poured three vials into a lake, creating a second, smaller Well."

 _Where was Mount Hyjal, which continent and how long ago?_

"Arcane is primarily about tearing at the stability of the world, bending it to your will. A mage can manipulate the world to get effects similar to Dust in nature. But you can do so much more with it too. Conjuring food, placing people to sleep. A powerful mage is one of the most dangerous people you could fight."

She stepped back, and there was a overhead view of a city, coated in purple.

"The highest concentration of Mages is the Magocracy Dalaran, led by the Kirin Tor. It is possible to become addicted to arcane energies, the Quel'dorei, descendents of the Highborne, all have this, it's not pretty. In large concentrations of it can bleach your hair."

She wiped the board and started to draw again.

"Opposite Arcane is Fel, which is connected to a sickly yellow-green color. It is, comparatively easier to perform, but can also corrupt the user, changing their body. and has a much more corrosive presence than most other forms of magic."

"Those who use Fel magics, which is generally divided into three branches, Affliction, Demonology, and Destruction, are referred to as Warlocks."

"Affliction Warlocks attack the body and soul, wearing them down over time, through diseases."

"The soul? Like our Aura?"

"Yes, it is important to remember that, as a general rule of thumb, Warlocks are mages who wanted to take the easy way, and are not above attacking you like that."

"People do these things?"

Miss Rose stopped in the middle of her drawing to turn towards the student who asked it.

"If we had anything, maybe a rat or something, I would show you. I know a couple of Fel based tricks."

 _Magic isn't incompatible with other forms of magic. Possible to learn more than one type._

Turning back to the drawing she continued on, "Anyways, Destruction Warlocks prefer to use Fel enhanced fire to do similar things."

"Finally you have Demonology, studying how to transform into something known as a Demon, among other things, such as binding other Demons to them. They dance the line more than any other Warlock, because the change may be permanent, and," stepping back she pointed to the picture, "rather drastic."

It looked like a man, if you ignored the hooves, horns, wing, and needle like teeth.

"Other users of Fel Magic are Demon Hunters, whose name should be self explanatory."

 _Demons not liked by society?_

A Faunus cut in, "Wait, these people get turned into things like that and they just get enslaved or put down? Why?"

"Most of the time they're too far gone. Demons are beings who have chaotic energy coursing through their veins."

"That's not right! You should be trying to help them!"

"I would like to point out that my only meaningful romantic relationship in years _was_ with a Demon. So you're not exactly making your case to the right person."

"Really?"

She hiked a thumb at the picture, "Why do you think I'm able to draw that from memory?"

The boy settled down, pacified.

"Continuing on, the next branch is Necromancy, it straddles the line of Arcane and Fel. It is the magic of Death. Plagues, Blood absorption, reviving the dead. It is the magic prefered by Death Knights and Necromancers, though you might find the occasional Warlock who uses it. Use of it causes your hair to lose color, skin to pale, and finally your heart to stop, a gradual slip into undeath."

"Is that what happened to you?"

"No."

"Then what happened to- that's a big scar!"

Miss Rose had turned around and flipped her shirt up, allowing a scar to be seen on her back. Bartholomew could tell the blade that did it had been massive, and would have torn right through her lung.

"There's a matching one on my chest, want to guess how it got there?"

"After Necromancy we go into-"

The bell for the end after school classes rang then.

"We'll continue next week."

\- X LINE BREAK X-

Nobundo breathed in the incense, allowing it to carry him away from the noise of the ship. Embracing the sensation of falling, freedom from his Broken body, following the spirits as they brought him to where they felt he needed to be.

He was a wolf, running with his pack to get prey before the Strange Ones could, they hadn't eaten in days, hunger gnawing at his stomach. Why did the Strange Ones even need prey? All the pack knew that the Strange Ones didn't eat. They were mostly happy that the Strange Ones didn't attack them unless they moved too far into their nests.

The pack stopped at the edge of the aberration. It had been there for generations, forced his ancestors out of their hunting grounds, and was slowly growing bigger.

The trees stopped abruptly, dying and giving way to darkened crags and strange crystals. Crawling along the place were the Strange Ones, more than any other place that he knew of.

He hated the place, and if he was in charge of the pack, would have put as much ground between them and it as possible. But the leader was fixated on the past, and the idea that they could take it back.

It was foolish, their father had died trying to do the same. There was no hope so long as _it_ lurked at the heart of the place, writhing, whispering things that had seen pack after pack wander into the Strange Ones. It's servent, a Strange One that was unique, had played with their father before his death, and would do the same to them just as easily.

Something rustled in the trees and he looked up. Staring at him was one of the flying Strange Ones. Holding his breath he slunk into the shadows, even as his brother growled at the thing. The others followed him into the shadows as a single swing of its wing saw his brother impaled.

He moved with them, they would leave this place. Anything for survival.

He was an eagle soaring through the sky, in the distance a large floating shape sat as other shapes flew above him. He could see

a tower, piercing the sky. His destination was there. His mighty wing beat at the air, carrying him aloft.

Folding them to his side he dove, wind slipping around him. He swept past a group of four, but the one who caught his attention was the girl with red hair and green eyes. The tower was rapidly approaching and he closed his eyes.

Nobundo staggered as he aligned on his own two feet, leaning on his staff. The Farseer was in a great hall, pillars rising on either side, and a strange machine sat at the end, where sobbing could be heard.

Seated in front of the machine was a human woman, her head was burrowed in her knees.

Walking to her, the former Vindicator crouched down in front of her.

"What is wrong young one?" While it was presumptuous to assume she was young, after all, Ruby would probably look the same thirty thousand years from now, Nobundo was willing to guess that this woman _wasn't_ a questionably sane lich.

She didn't answer him, and he gently reached over and touched her shoulder.

Her head snapped up and she looked at him in shock. He wished that was a new expression, but years of strange looks had jaded him. He guessed he was lucky she wasn't running away in terror.

"You… can see me?"

"Yes."

Nobundo tensed as she threw her arms around him, her sobs shifting in tone, not used to physical contact anymore.

"Are you alright?"

"I don't think so."

"What happened?"

"I was attacked by someone and passed out. When I woke up, I was here and nobody could see me.

"I see."

This was puzzling, why had the spirits brought him to this woman?

"May I ask your name?"

"Oh, it's Amber. What about you?"

"I am Nobundo."

Something seemed to flicker around Amber and she doubled over in pain.

Warning sirens went off on the machines, and it flickered to life.

Marching over to the machine he looked inside. Lying there was another Amber. Was this machine like the suspended animation aboard the Exodar?

A lift opened on the other side of the hall and four people rushed out.

"We're losing her!"

"Open the chamber, we need to give her a infusion of Aura!"

They rushed right through Nobundo and Amber.

He watched as they resuscitated the woman.

Feeling a tug, he walked over to the woman, "I'll find out what's happening, I promise."

His eyes snapped open and he sat up, using his staff to stand he walked outside, trying to divine the meaning of his vision as he watched Shandris run her small group of Sentinels through practices.

Something was corrupting Remnant, (he knew that already), the red haired girl was important otherwise he wouldn't have noticed her (but why?) and Amber was dying (why was that important?)

\- X LINE BREAK X-

 _Radulf Skullweeper drove his axes down with a roar, splitting the carapace of the Silithid. They had been at this for months, and the Silithid had gotten more agitated as they got closer to finishing the scepter, like they knew the task force that had swiftly grown into an army was coming._

 _The Forsaken, and one Death Knight, were taking full advantage of the fact that they didn't need sleep or eat to keep the attacks off the base. They only needed to hold out for a few more days, until the scepter was completed._

 _Another one of the damn bugs burst from the ground with a hiss and Radulf watched as it was cut off with a shriek, dissolving from an Affliction spell._

 _Another set burst from the ground hive only to be blasted with a twister of red fire._

 _"How quickly do these things breed!?"_

 _A scythe flew into the sky, cleaving the wings off some of the flyers._

 _"Reminds me of home!"_

 _Radulf was fairly certain that Lordaeron hadn't been like this, leaving him to wonder what she meant._

 _"Big one incoming!"_

 _It burst from the fissure with an massive shriek, mantis like claws digging into the ground as it lifted itself out of the hole._

 _Two weeks ago, when these ones had first appeared, they had been a problem. Now they were a break in the monotony._

 _Bone spikes would bite into its claws, holding it in place as arrows struck the chinks in its carapace. Dark magic would leak from the arrows, weakening the natural armor from the inside out._

 _This was where Radulf and the other warriors would come in, leaping up the claw and break through the exoskeleton and cleaved through the flesh underneath._

 _Finally the mages would blast it off the cliff, allowing gravity to do the rest._

 _That's what would have happened, if a bolt of Fel fire didn't hit the thing, provoking it into a charge._

 _It picked up one of the Forsaken and bit into it injecting them with the corrosion poison in its mandible, because of course whatever Light forsaken being that created this thing felt it needed to be more lethal._

 _Rose leapt up on it's back digging her scythe into the chink in its exoskeleton, and used it as a lever to channel her monstrous strength to break off the offending piece of chiton._

 _When it finally broke she blasted flames into it, forcing it to rear back as it was cooked from the inside out._

 _"NOW!"_

 _Every mage launched their spells at once, fire, ice, and arcane struck the back of the creature. As it collapsed, spasming they turned to look at where the blast of Fel Fire came from._

 _Standing there was a Gnome, who looked extremely sheepish. Rose marched over to the thing and latched her hand around his throat, hoisting him into the air._

 _"What was that?"_

 _"Well- uh- you looked like you could use some help and-"_

 _"You got someone killed."_

 _"Yeah, sorry about-"_

 _He was cut off as Rose reached down and picked up a decent sized rock, crushing it to dust with a careless ease_

 _"Give me a reason I shouldn't do that to your head."_

 _"I'll deal with him, he's my idiot of a brother."_

 _Another Gnome walked forward, and Rose dropped him. The man raised his arms, "Sis how have you-"_

 _She silenced him with punch._

 _Walking over to Rose, Radulf leaned over, "I like this girl already."_

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Varok looked over the gathered forces, breathing in, he began to speak._

 _"I am Saurfang. Brother of Broxigar. You know me to be the Supreme Commander of the Might of Kalimdor. An orc - a true orc warrior - wishes for one thing: To die in the glory of battle against a hated enemy. Some of you have fought in battles. Peace has been with us for many years." The force seemed to inflate at his words, standing straighter._

 _" Many years we sat idle but many years we battled. In those years - where strife the land and Legion and Scourge sacked our homes, killed our families- No offense Ruby-"_

 _The Death Knight, who Varok had grown slightly fond of over the past few months (she was surprisingly affable) shrugged from where she stood with the Scourge forces she had brought to assist them, her Necropolis in the distance waiting to supply reinforcements, "It's what we did before this, and what we'll probably do when this is over with."_

 _"-these insects dwelled beneath us. Beneath our homes - waiting. Waiting to crush the life from our little ones. To slay all in their path. This they do for their god. And for our gods? We defend. We stand. We show that as one. United. We destroy. Their god will fall." He looked out over the forces, meeting the eyes of everyone he could._

 _"To die today, on this field of battle, is to die an orcish death. To die today is to die for our little ones. Our old ones. Our… loved ones. Would any of you deny yourselves such a death? Such an honor?"_

 _Silence stretched, only the howling of the wind audible, before war cries were yelled as confirmation._

 _"FER KHAZ MODAN!"_

 _"DEATH TO THE ENEMIES OF THE HORDE!"_

 _"FOR LOTHAR!"_

 _"FOR KALIMDOR!"_

 _Leoric and Ruby stepped up._

 _"I am with you until I gasp my last dying breath."_

 _"The Lich King has spoken, the warriors of Avernus will fight with you until the winds of the desert has torn the flesh from our bones and buries us in the arid sands!"_

 _"Shiromar, strike the Gong!"_

 _The Night Elf priestess brought the Scepter down and the crash echoed through the air._

 _As the gate slowly opened Varok said one last thing, "Whether you are Alliance or Horde, Dragon or Scourge, I would like to request you amuse this old Orc and join me in this last battle cry! Lok'Tar Ogar!"_

 _" **LOK'TAR OGAR!"**_


	10. Chapter 10

AN: It's almost shameful how long it took me to catch that this chapter was missing.

"You guys agreed to have team RWBY plan a party while I was gone?"

"Technically it's a dance, sis."

Yang watched as Ruby looked between her and Weiss, before turning around and walking away.

She and Weiss had to rush to keep up with Ruby's long strides while Blake slinked behind.

"Ruby, if you don't want to help you don't have to, Blake isn't."

As they entered the Ebon Blade's room Ruby made a beeline for the couch where Velann was napping again.

"Wake up."

When the High Elf didn't move Ruby rolled her eyes and swooped down. Flipping the couch with a crash, Ruby backed up as Velann leapt up, grabbed her sword from the floor next to her.

"Who did that!?"

"Who do you think did it, genius?"

"Why?"

"You didn't wake up."

"Some of us enjoy sleep and don't see the need to do so as little as necessary."

"Some of us once nearly successfully sieged Honor Hold and _did_ succeed in destroying Thrallmar because they didn't sleep."

"Oh? Where the big bad Sons of Lothar too much for you?"

"No, I needed to come back and teach a bunch of idiotic Death Knights how to do their damn jobs and kill a bunch of religious zealots. I seem to recall you being one of them."

"We would have gotten them eventually!"

Yang leaned over to Blake and Weiss, "Are they actually arguing about who is better at massacring people?"

"We knew they had problems." Blake replied dryly.

"Like you succeeded at Light's Hope?"

"That doesn't count!"

"Why, because Tirion would have beaten your ass if I hadn't intervened?"

"I remember you losing to him too."

"Which I only did to keep you from getting half of Acherus killed, Scourge Commander Darkfall."

Yang watched Velann's hands curl into fists, and stepped forward, "Hey, guys-"

"Not all of us can butcher an entire town to impress their master like a good pet, Deathlord Rose." Spat Velann.

"Are you still sore about that? It was eighteen years ago, get over it."

"Highlord Rose, that's enough!" Malag and York had walked into the room.

"What, like you got over Ar-"

Ruby's hand lashed out, and Velann clawed at her throat, where a black tendril of energy had constricted around her.

Malag tore past them, tackling Velann as she yanked out a jagged green knife.

"I didn't tell you that so you could use it against me."

"Highlord Rose, why don't you go for a walk, calm down."

"Fine. Yang, Velann will help you with the planning and preparations of the dance. After all, elves always love a party."

Ruby marched out of the room, tendrils of energy lashing off her frame.

-X Line Break X-

Adam clenched his eyes shut, breath ragged, as memories and emotions assaulting his mind.

A Skeleton, horned and tusked, rising from a pool of tainted water, a glowing light burned from his chest and malevolent laughter filled the air.

 **Irritation, respect**.

A bearded man, weapons in hand, looking at a sword encased in ice in awe and horror.

 **Foolishness, regret**.

Another man, hunchbacked and wizened, green skin and red eyes peaking out of the robes he wore.

A woman, grey skinned and red eyed, an arrow nocked and ready to fire. Hatred clear on her face

 **Anger, hatred, revenge.**

Blond hair, blue eyes, a laugh like bells as they slipped away to carry out their relationship in secret.

"Arthas, I have a lesson with Ruby soon!"

"She can wait."

Red hair, fangs poking from her lower lips, armor and a massive sword. She was going off to battle, he didn't know it at the time but she would never come back.

"I'll see you when you get back, Rulkan."

"You never know Ner'zhul, maybe I'll fall in love with a handsome Ogre and never return."

They had laughed about it at the time, the idea that she wouldn't be there was an absurdity.

She was standing in front of a piece of ice in their room in Icecrown, he could see the scars from Kel'thuzad's unauthorized 'lessons' from when he had been asleep when she reached down to pull on her pants, moving the cloak she had around her just enough to allow him to see the pale skin of her back.

"What excuse are we using for Kel'thuzad this time?"

"I needed your help dealing with some Nerubians."

"We used that last time, him and Alexandros are starting to get suspicious."

"Let them, I am their king, it is not up to them what me and my champion do in private."

"Oh, I'm your champion am I?"

"Of course you are, there is no greater warrior loyal to me."

"Oh Arthas, flattery will get you everywhere."

The smile on her face was downright predatory as he rose to help her pull on her shirt and armor.

 **Regret, fondness, lo-.**

"NO!" Adam rammed his fist into his skull repeatedly.

'Think of Blake, think of Blake, think of Blake!'

He tried to picture her, but it was like trying to hold onto a piece of paper in a tornado.

'Blake, Blake, BlakeBlakeBlakeBlake **Jania** BlakeBlakeBlake **JaniaRulkan** BlakeBlake **JainaRulkanRuby** Blake **JaniaRulkanRubyJainaRulkanRuby** '

More memories plagued him, of a man holding a hammer. Of a berserk green skinned warrior holding an Ax. A horse bleeding out in a snowy forest. A red skinned, horned being towering over him as he was encased in ice.

A knocking echoed out like a gun blast, "Sir, we have a new batch of recruits."

"Good, I'll be right there."

Reaching over he picked up his mask. Fitting it over his face he breathed in, trying to regain his composure.

Stepping out of his room he walked down to the hall, looking down to where the newest batch of 'recruits' were gathered.

He had picked up the term from Ruby, who always used it cheekily.

He looked over the collection of Humans, he wasn't picky on these ones.

"I would like to thank you for your… noble sacrifice."

"What is that supposed to mean you mon-"

Screams started as necrotic energy flowed across them, skin started to leak off their bones and and their bodies started to shift.

Ghouls and skeletons looked up at him as he basked in the rush of energy.

Another step closer to his goal, but something was missing.

As he returned to his room, specters of a past not his own following him he realized what it was. His heartbeat.

The laugher in his ears was chilling.

-X Line Break X-

Penny watched as Ruby and Mr. Mograine spared, a dance of whirling blades. The greatest Death Knights of Acherus were destroying the forest they fought in. Trees were cleaved in two to deflect blows, rocks were rent from the ground.

She had been following them when she saw Ruby march into Acherus and drag Mr. Mograine out.

Standing on the cliff she examined the area, Grimm were there, but seemed to be ignoring the two of them, despite the obvious rage Ruby was giving off.

Penny watched as the scythe Ruby added to her arsenal of weapons sailed over Mr. Mograine's head, before flying back like a boomerang. Flames trailed in the wake of the blade.

There were a lot of things that it was hard to remember about humans. Even after a few days of living on the Ebon Hold she had experienced a freedom she wasn't used to.

Nobody looked at her strangely for applying too much pressure during a handshake, or going without food for a while. Sleep was a luxury, not a necessity to them, so nobody questioned it if they stumbled upon her at odd hours. It did, however, raise questions on how divorced from other people that they didn't seem to notice the fact that she was _supposed_ to be a normal human.

Outside of a few rooms, Ruby's quarters, a vault, and a room near the center of Acherus that most people seemed unaware of, Penny had been given free rein of the base. She was beginning to suspect that that was because anywhere that the didn't want her in was guarded by traps. A precaution, Pitwick, he had steadfastly refused to let her call him Mr. Blackneedle, had confided in her, from when someone had broken into the vault back on Azeroth, and, strangely enough, hadn't stolen anything. They had, in fact, left something. A sign saying, "Sorry for borrowing this! -N."

Penny wasn't complaining though, it made her job for Mr. Ironwood easier. She felt a bit guilty spying on her friend, but Mr. Ironwood had pointed out, just because Ruby might have the best intentions didn't mean that the rest of the Knights of the Ebon Blade did.

Penny wasn't sure what to think about the rest of them. Pitwick was nice, and Mr. Mograine at least tried to be civil with her, but a lot of them were hostile to her, like someone who wasn't one of them being there was a problem.

Penny wondered if it was because she wasn't as good at infiltration as they thought she might be. Even with her restrictions on lying turned off, she wasn't used to doing so.

Oh, well! She would just keep trying, Mr. Ironwood was counting on her!

-X Line Break X-

Azeroth felt the endless ocean of Light wash over her, and she opened her eyes. She knew if she looked away from the being in front of her, she would see thing that her mind would never comprehend, beings that could destroy her as easily as a human could kill a fly if they weren't forced to act through proxies.

"Hello Azeroth."

"Mother Elune, I have come to you, seeking advice, as you gave me during my long sleep."

"Then come, my child, sit with me, and I shall attempt to answer them to the best of my ability."

Settling down next to the being of pure Light, Azeroth searched her thoughts for the best way to frame her question.

"I am not sure what I am doing is… right."

"With Ruby?"

"Yes. Ever since you brought her to me, I've been manipulating events, forging her into a weapon against the Legion and Void. Having you guide Alexandros to her, so she could meet Uther, and witness from the two of them unshakable conviction. Guiding her to Arthas and Illidan, so she could learn how our enemies think. Implanting the suggestion in Varian's mind to send Ruby after Anduin, so she could learn to care for others again. Showing Kairozdormu a timeline he would have never found otherwise, so that she could see that nobody was incorruptible. And it has all backfired on me."

"How so, child?"

"She is plagued with self doubt, her relationships with Arthas and Illidan saw her incorporate parts of the enemies abilities into her own style. She cares for Anduin's safety to point where she refuses to speak to him, having gone so far as to not tell him that she was leaving, for fear that she will be the catalyst of his corruption, as she was in that timeline."

"I can not help but notice, despite you saying you came here with a question, you have yet to ask one."

"My question, Mother Elune, is two fold. First, With all these flaws, how can I trust Ruby with the roles I need her to play, and second, comparing her to the girl we plucked from Remnant so few years ago, firm in her beliefs and looking towards a better future, how am I any better than Sargeras or the Void Lords?"

"The answer to both your questions is the same, and you have already said it. Doubt. All who came before you two, Illidan, Arthas, Bolvar, Sagarus and Aman'Thul, believed that what they were doing was right, and nobody could break them from that mindset until it was too late. You and Ruby, both of you question everything you do, you looked at Ruby and see nothing but mistakes, so you tried to do something to make up for it. You gave her back the home you took from her, and gave her someone to make sure she wasn't alone. Ruby would have left you, even if the rest of the Ebon Blade had decided to stay and die, because she believes as long as she stayed on you, she would cause problems."

"You sound so certain."

"I would not have placed you two together if I didn't believe that my plan was anything less than the best for the job."

"Thank you, Mother Elune, I must think on this."

-X Line Break X-

Anduin felt his back crack as he stretched, grabbing his cane from where it leaned against the bed. Limping out of the ship, he watched the Vindicators train.

Not for the first time, Anduin wondered how things could have been different if he had taken Ruby up on the offer to train him that she gave after every time he had gotten into another scrap of trouble in Pandaria. Would he still have been injured when the Divine Bell collapsed? Would he have stood with his father on the Broken Shore? Would he still willingly stepped down as king of Stormwind to make way for a democracy?

... Or would that have been the first step to the pair of tyrants they could have been?

Anduin had never admitted it to anyone, but the two of them had haunted his dreams for months, watching as _he_ used the corrupted form of Shalamayne to cut down anyone who got too close, while _Ruby's_ helmed head poked over his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him. Coquettish whispers of temptation flooding his ears.

Anduin shivered, disgust filling his form. What had happened in that timeline to cause _that_ to happen? Even Ruby, who had once tortured a Orc just out of his sight to leave a message not to follow them, had reacted with complete disgust. Ruby was many things to Anduin, a strange mixture of sister and mother, but he could _never_ entertain the idea of her as a romantic partner.

He wasn't sure how most of the others felt about their alternates, Jaina was embarrassed when confronted with the version of her who wanted to commit genocide on the Horde, he knew that, but Ruby and his father had both acted like nothing had happened, and he had never asked Baine, as by the time he saw his unlikely friend again there were more pressing things to deal with.

The part that frightened him the most though, was the fact that he couldn't deny that _they had a point._ Why had the Horde and Alliance always fought? Azeroth always seemed to be in danger and they chose to fight over land disputes and old grudges! Ruby had once said that her loyalty to the Alliance stretched only as far as they were being useful on any given day for that exact reason.

The year and a half he spent in Pandaria had been eye opening. To hide their identities Ruby had used the lie that he was a traveling priest and she was a sell-sword hired to guard him. Not technically a lie, so much as it was a stretching of the truth.

He had lost track of the times during those travels that they had come across war torn towns. He would always use Light and first aid to help the people there, and Ruby would help bury the dead. If they were lucky the townsfolk would spare some food, or clothing… they were rarely lucky. The Horde and Alliance would commandeer the food in any town they went through, and Anduin got used to being hungry. He had wondered if the constant gnawing in his gut was how Ruby felt with the Endless Hunger.

Despite that, there were times when he wished they could go back to that. Just the two of them (and Despair when Ruby felt they were far enough away from society to risk it) exploring the world, helping people.

Anduin leaned on his cane, watching Yrel drive her hammer through another Vindicator's guard. If Ruby was here she probably have made a joke about his… preference for Draenei woman.

"Anduin, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Oh, hello Highlord Fordring, how are you today?"

"Well enough, but remember I am not a Highlord anymore."

"Ah, yes. You said that you had something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes. Remnant has advanced prosthetics, ones that behave like an a actual limb. If you wanted, I could look into gathering enough money to replace your leg."

Anduin tightened his grip on the cane, feeling it shake under the pressure. Replace his leg? The past few years he had been restricted by it, even his old hobby of archery was beyond reach. The amount of things he could do with a new leg was staggering, he could run, he could learn how to be a Paladin, he could learn to wield Shalamayne.

"I would love that."

"I thought you would."

"How long?"

"Probably a couple of weeks, no one in the Ebon Blade checks the Lien they have so we could probably slip enough off the top, especially now that the wall is almost finished."

-X Line Break X-

As they stepped into the dance, Emerald took in the information she might need. There were six exits to the room, lowest windows were approximately thirty feet up. Balconies to use as leverage were twelve feet up.

Next were guards, two Atlesian soldiers off in the corner guarding a ginger haired girl. Ozpin, Goodwitch, Oobleck and Port were here, as was Ironwood. Was that all? No wait, up on the balcony, in the shadows.

A pair of women, who could have only been mother and daughter, even though the younger of the two stood at least a head above her mother.

The way the taller of the two way kept flexing her hands, like they were expecting something to drop into them tipped Emerald off. _Two wrist sheathed weapons, most likely daggers. Expecting trouble, or just paranoid?_

Emerald filed away the information, watching as the smaller woman was led away by a blond haired man wearing a suit.

Emerald started to dance with Mercury, but kept an eye on the area, just in case anyone slipped out and might have caught Cinder.

Half an hour in, the teachers had joined in the dance, and the silver eyed girl had been dragged onto to the dance floor by a blond haired girl, and pushed into dancing with a black haired girl.

Guiding her partner over to the pair she listened in.

"I'm honestly surprised you don't have a partner Blake."

"Nobody asked me, I don't really have any friends outside of you three and Team JNPR."

"Blake… I'm sorry."

"I hurt you worse than you hurt me."

"I'm older than you Blake, I know more about the world, I should have kept my temper."

A fight? Emerald would have to remember to tell Cinder about this, every bit of information could help. Especially as Emerald realized that she was spying on the head of the group who had been a thorn in their side.

"You're surprisingly good at this."

"Uther wanted to make sure that I was able to do things like dance, we didn't know how long I was going to be there and he wanted to make sure I could take care of myself if I was stuck there so long that he was unable to take care of me."

"Dancing is important to taking care of yourself?"

"Listen, Azeroth was so back-assed at times, I barely dodged getting married."

"To Illidan?"

"No, that's its own can of worms. Most people thought we were. Malfurion and Tyrande act like I was part of Stormrage family.

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Do you think you would have married Illidan?"

"I never really thought about it. I've never been the best at relationships Blake, I've only ever had two, and neither was what most other people would classify as healthy."

"And you think they are?"

"Blake, when you're an undying monster who literally _needs_ to cause pain to survive, just about any relationship is healthier than none."

"You're not a monster…"

"Everyone says that, you don't know what I've done."

"I worked with the White Fang, none of you judged me for that."

More helpful information.

"Yes, and I killed… sorry I need to take this."

Ruby stepped back from her dance partner, lifting her scroll to her ear with a scowl on her face

"Speak your piece… did you stop her… don't worry, we'll find her, stopping whatever she was uploading was more important… suffer well."

She placed her scroll in her coat pocket, before looking back at Blake.

"I need to go. Save me a dance if I get back before the party ends?"

"Sounds fun."

Emerald blinked as her scroll went off.

"Yes?"

The ragged breathing from the other side caused her to freeze.

"Get… Get back to our room, now."

"Cinder? Are you alright?"

A wet cough came from the other side.

"Come on, we need to go."

Rushing out of the hall to the rooms Haven students were using, she threw open the door.

"Cinder!"

The upper portion of her outfit had been removed, something that _normally_ only happened in Emerald's dreams. Any excitement she could have gotten was cut off by the wound.

The injury itself was bad enough, but the area around it made it all the worse. A set of black pustules lined each side of the wound, and the blood coming from it was mixed with a white substance.

"In my bag… vial of Fire Dust…"

Emerald rushed over to the bag, pulling the vial out.

"Now what!?"

"Pour some on your hand, and press it on the wound."

Cinder bit into one of her arrows as Emerald did what she said. When the mint haired girl lifted her hand the wound had been seared shut and the black boils had been burned away. Fire Dust had been used for cauterization for years, it was dangerous, but they couldn't risk going to the hospital and having to answer awkward questions.

"What happened?"

"The two of them were waiting for me, couldn't use Dust, they created some barrier, and Dust stopped working the minute it hit the damn thing."

"Did you get either of them?"

"I think I managed to hit one with an arrow…" Cinder trailed off then, slumping against the wall, her chest rising and falling.

"Cinder!?"

"Come on, Em, let her rest."

-X Line Break X-

 _To the surprise of absolutely no one, the first kill of the assault of Ahn'Qiraj went to Ruby, who hurled herself over Saurfang's head and buried her scythe into the obsidian head of a Anubisath, laughing maniacally all the way._

 _The second through twentieth kills technically went to the Anubisath for crushing its allies, though Ruby would claim them too. At that point the flying Silithid managed to get over the wall only to be shot down by a rain of arrows, spells, and bullets._

 _After that the fighting had started in earnest and it became impossible to keep track._

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Radulf roared with laughter, swinging his axes in massive sweeping blows. This was what he lived for! Despite Sylvanas's claims that they would have their vengeance, nothing had happened in the past three years! Without that, the only thing left to live for was the thrill of the fight, and the Horde gave him that!_

 _One! Two! Three! Four! More and more and more! The scent of blood reached his nose, heady and intoxicating, it drove him on._

 _These insects' crushed corpses would be testament to the fact that he lived, Arthas hadn't killed him, the Scarlet Crusade hadn't killed him, some overgrown bugs wouldn't kill him!_

 _A leg burst through his armor, tearing into his flesh. Good! Now it was a real battle!_

 _He cleaved the leg off at the joint, and sundered the Sithild's head open. He tore the still twitching appendage out of the wound, a garbled order came from his mouth._

" _HEAL ME!"_

 _He wasn't sure which language he yelled it in, Common, Gutterspeak, Orcish, maybe even Scourgish, it didn't matter._

 _The response came in the form of Light, burning him, healing the wound even as the area around it cracked and burned, before healing in turn. Pain, pain was good, if he could feel pain than he could still fight._

 _His vision filled with red, and he could almost feel his non-existent heartbeat in his ears._

 _When you were Forsaken, you needed something to keep you going, for Radulf Skullweeper this was it. To a degree he didn't consider himself Forsaken, they had no home, no family, the Light had abandoned them._

 _Well, Radulf hadn't had a family before hand, he was one of the orphans of the second war, and he didn't particularly care about the Light, even before his death, as for a home? He had a home, it was here, on the field of battle._

 _An orcish death? A orcish death sounded perfect._

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Mitnus glared at her brother, this was supposed to be her day, and he had to show up and ruin it like an asshole._

 _First he gets someone killed, and that was so like him, to think that he was better than everyone else there. Now he was throwing around Felfire left right and center, for every one Mitnus killed Finkmink killed two, and he wouldn't let her not know that._

" _That's another four, I'm on a role sis!"_

 _He was also, to her irritation, counting the kills of his imp. The fact that he was counting the kills at all was annoying, this wasn't a game, but if he felt the need to do so, he could have at least had the decency to count the kills he was responsible for._

 _Another Silithid charged forward, smashing Finkmink into a wall. Looking over, Mitnus caught sight of a broken sword from one of the dead._

 _Grabbing it, Mitnus swung at the spot in between the thorax and abdomen. The blade, enhanced by fire dug into the bug. She channeled more fire into the blade, and it exploded, throwing her back from the force._

 _Her ears were ringing, and she couldn't see right. Something was coming towards her, and she wrapped her hand around the hilt of the sword. That was strange, where had the blade gone?_

" _Medic! We need a damn medic ova here! Hey, can ya hear me, girl?"_

" _You're blue. Hey Fink, look at this, she's blue, isn't that cool!"_

" _Just sit still, we'll get ya some help. Medic! We got injured!"_

" _I'm here, what are we looking at?"_

" _I think she be concussed, da other one ain't moving."_

" _Another Silithid, I'll need you to buy me time."_

" _Dat I can do. Alright ya damn ants, come taste my blades!"_

 _It felt like Mitnus was bathed in warm water, like she was taking a nice bath. Everything seemed to come back into focus. A weird walking tree stood over her._

" _Are you alright?"_

" _Uh, yeah?"_

" _Never seen a druid turn into a treent before?"_

" _No, sorry for staring."_

" _It's fine, I know I look strange like this."_

" _Ya do mon, attack of da trees ya know?"_

 _The other person walked up, a female Troll wearing surprisingly dapper clothes. She wore a tail coat, guns hanging off it one was in her hand being reloaded. A pair of cutlasses hung off her hips._

" _Nice ta meet ya, little one, Cap'n Tal, privateer. Dat was an impressive move ya pulled back there, sorry bout ya sword."_

" _It wasn't mine."_

" _Still, it was impressive, ere, take dis, should be da right size for ya."_

 _Mitnus took the offered dagger, it was, as the Troll said, the perfect size to be a sword for her._

" _And, think of dat as a job offer. Good mages are hard ta come by in our line of work."_

" _Are- are you sure, you don't want my brother?"_

 _Nobody had ever said Mitnus was good, not when Finkmink was around._

" _I don't like working with Warlocks, always ends messily. Besides I didn't see ya brother just take down one of these tings, which, speaking of which, we should probably get back to dealing with. Ya can get him back to base?"_

 _The Druid nodded, or at least Mitnus thought he nodded, and picked up Finkmink._

" _I forgot ta ask, whatcha name?"_

" _Mitnus."_

" _Well den, Mitnus, shall we?"_

 _Mitnus launched a ball of fire at a Sithild sneaking up behind Tal._

" _Lets."_

" _I like ya already."_

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Ruby looked around the hive, the bugs would keep coming if she didn't get rid of it._

 _Releasing a sigh, Ruby rotated her neck, letting it crack. Looks like she would have to stop holding back._

 _Slowly Ruby closed her hand, letting the fire gather in a ring around her, instead of her signature green, these were a brilliant silver, and Ruby knew if anyone could see her, they would say her eyes were glowing like beacons._

 _When the fire finally finished growing it had created an orb, bringing up her other hand, she pressed it against the loosely closed fist and pressed down._

 _Like the bang of a starting gun, her fingers cracked, and the flames launched out, burning through the corruption of the hive with ease._

 _She didn't do this often, the flames were attracted to anything that wasn't natural, and she ran a very real risk of burning herself, but when she did it felt so_ _ **good**_ _. It was like, for a brief second, she was alive again, her heart was beating, her breath was something beyond an autonomous action, and blood flowed through her veins. For a brief second, she could tell what she was doing was wrong._

 _Then the moment was gone, she breathed in, and then back out, and nothing happened, the fetid air wasn't anything other than that, air, it gave no life, no sustenance. And somewhere deep inside Ruby, it hurt even more than if it had never happened at all._

 _Shaking her head, she walked out of the pit, looking at where Varok stood with the remaining member of the Might of Kalimdor, the last few months had been fun, but it was time to finish it. Arthas had called her back to Icecrown, and she didn't want to keep him waiting. The last time she had disappointed him had- NOPE! Not thinking about it!_

" _We'll hold the line here Varok, keep any we missed from getting to you, go, you have a god to kill."_

" _Ruby, why did you ever join the Scourge? You could have been a champion, a hero._

" _My reasons are my own," Ruby sighed, it wasn't the same, "if we ever see each other again, we will be enemies. Suffer well, Varok Saurfang."_

" _Ruby Rose, may your blades never dull."_

 _Ruby watched as they marched off, Redbrand walked behind her, "Deathlord?"_

" _Bring in the Necromancers."_

" _Are you sure?"_

" _Yes."_

" _As you wish, Deathlord."_

 _Ruby let her men get to work, using a Eye of Kilrogg to follow the progress of her unlikely allies through the temple._

" _Suffer well, my friends…"_

" _What was that Deathlord?"_

" _Nothing! Hurry up, I want these Sithild brought to Avernus before the day is up!"_

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Arthas stood on the balcony of Icecrown, waiting for Ruby to return, his present for her birthday hidden behind his back. He watched as Avernus docked, it had made the slow journey back to Icecrown, both because Arthas wanted to speak with her, and because he planned to reposition her. Naxxramas had gone out of commission a week ago, he needed someone in that area until he could find someone to replace that blundering fool Kel'thuzad and the Dark Portal had reopened._

 _The Horde and Alliance had both rushed there, meaning that there was something they wanted, and where there was supplies there were people, and where there were people, there were recruits for the Scourge. Ner'zhul came from Outland, back when it was Draenor, it was only fitting that they served him._

" _Honey! I'm home!"_

" _Isn't it normally the husband who says that?"_

" _Yeah, but you never leave, so it fall on me!"_

" _Very funny."_

" _What are you holding behind your back?"_

" _Well, you see, it was your birthday last week, and I just so happened to have gotten a rather interesting weapon when I sent a raid to Karazhan to make a deal with the Dark Riders."_

 _Arthas brought out the weapon, the guard was in the shape of a great horned skull, and the blade was massive, letting out a green glow._

" _Meet Apocalypse, a extremely powerful blade made by the Nathrezim, it causes death and plagues, so I thought…"_

 _Ruby yanked the sword from his hand, dancing around the balcony, "Cooool! Man, this makes the present I got you look stupid in comparison!"_

" _Oh? And what is that?"_

" _Well, I know we needed more forces, so I raised all the Sithilds."_

" _Really? Is that what I sensed?"_

" _Yep!" Ruby popped the P, "Redbrand, bring them out!"_

 _The massive force of undead bugs walked out of Avernus, they must have been crammed in there._

" _This will be extremely helpful Ruby!"_

" _I know, right! They'll never see it coming!"_

 _Arthas swept her into a hug, "Come on, I have something I need you to do, but we can spend a day together."_

 _Ruby froze, "That sounds… great."_

" _Ruby? Is something wrong, you can tell me."_

" _No! No! Everything's fine…"_

 _Ruby trailed off, she seemed to do that more now, since Kel'thuzad went behind his back… maybe he should recover the fool who had hurt_ _ **his**_ _Ruby and make him go through the same._


	11. Chapter 11

Lam'Guld stood next to his wife, looking up at Highlord Rose as she stood on the balcony again. She was looking out at the city of Vale, just visible on the horizon, and playing with the ring on her finger her champions on either side of her. They had been here for half an hour, and she hadn't said anything, making the Orc wonder why she felt the need to call a meeting at two in the morning.

Finally, she began to speak, and it sent shivers down his spine. She hadn't raised her voice, but it seemed to cut through the air like a blade. It's was as unnerving as witnessing something that everyone present had already experienced, a violent death.

"Ever since I first learned of the Titans, I felt jealous of them. They had the ability to create children, not through reproduction, but through the hammer and forge. To someone like me, who was always more at home in battle, such an ability was to be coveted, so I went and made my own twisted parody.

I found the greatest warriors I could, heroes, who would gladly give their lives to see the death of the shadow Arthas, Kel'thuzad and I were sweeping across the world. At Light's Hope they stood, and Naxxramas sent our finest to crush them. They met the charge head on, why wouldn't they? They had already dealt a blow beyond compare when they stopped Kirkessen."

Lam'Guld felt his face lower into a scowl. This is what she had called them here for? He had been preparing ammunition for a hunting trip.

"They faced down Death, breaking the tide with their bodies, buying the Light they revered precious seconds as they died, dragging numbers beyond counting back to the grave with them. At the time I thought it inconsequential, warriors of Light greater than them had fallen to the might of the Scourge. Alexandros, Magroth, Halahk, Zeliek, Gavinrad, Terenas, Uther, compared to those legends what could they, what could you, a pitiful resistance in a dead land do?

Then, one of their members sacrificed himself," for the first time her eyes left the skyscraper, looking over at Mograine, before turning back, "bringing forth the spirits of the thousand heroes of the Light that laid in rest beneath the chapel. Even from Naxxramas, I could feel the rebuke of the Light."

Lam'Guld blinked, was that how they had been found by the Scourge? His memories of the time were spotty at best. The Forsaken he had spoken to assured him that it was natural, some lost things like the ability to speak Common.

"We paid it no heed, gathering up the bodies of the fallen on a new base, a grand citadel of death.

From the blade they were conceived, from the womb of the grave they were birthed, we nursed them on the blood of our enemies, and as I watched you, my children of death, I felt pride. Everything that Arthas and I were, we gave to you, our anger, jealousy, cruelty, malice, vengeance and possessiveness. We clad you in unbreakable armor, with blades almost beyond peer we equipped you, we gave you plagues to weaken our foes, taught you the ways of the San'layn so that you might use the blood of our enemies to continue to battle, ice to sharpen your blades, the runic magic of the Vrykul to perform these dark arts. It was to be the hour of the Scourge, it was to be the hour of our ascension, it was to be the hour of your dark rebirth.

But then, Arthas betrayed me! He sent you, who were to be _mine_ , to die for his plans, to lure out Tirion Fordring. You laid siege to the same bastion you once defended, and you would have faced your final death. With Tirion there, no longer holding back, there was no hope. Though," she looked over at Darkfall, who had spent the entire meeting looking anywhere other that the Highlord, "Some of you took longer than others to realize that. Arthas made a error that day, one he admitted to during our meeting afterwards. He forced me to chose between him, and my children.

I stepped in, facing down Tirion, knowing that it was a death sentence. I did it because, no matter what else, I am greedy. You were _mine_ , though you did not know it, and I would not give you back to the grave so easily.

You then rallied behind Darion Mograine, and with the allies you made, while I fought a one woman war against the man who should have been your father, marched to Northrend.

I watched, lending assistance when I felt it was needed, as you fought. You helped crush Malygos, we invaded Naxxramas, you killed a god, and then, finally, you cast down his citadels, smashing in the gates, and prepared to make your final march against Arthas…. And, while I couldn't be prouder, it also hurt. You were my children, and I understood what parents meant when they spoke of their children growing in the blink of an eye. In the span of a year, I watched you climb from your graves, clumsily using magic you did not understand, to winning a war against one of the greatest threats Azeroth had ever known. You didn't need me anymore, you were your own men and women.

After we killed Arthas, I left, the Scourge was gone, and it was up to you what you would do then, like children going out into the world for the first time. But, despite the fact that I had never told you, you were my children, and I felt that you all were better than me. It was only years later, when the Legion invaded, that you made it clear you thought the same of me.

Two hours ago, one of my children, your siblings, was injured. As it stands we do not know if York Carmine will survive the night… I don't care if he does."

And just like that, the magic was gone. Ruby Rose was that person to a lot of the Death Knights. The one you strive to be like, to surpass. Like Uther to the Paladins, or Malfurion to the Druids. Hearing her admit that she felt that they were better than her probably made everyone in the rooms spirits soar. Then to hear her lack of care, it was like a deep blow.

Suddenly she stopped playing with the ring, turning to face them, Lam'Guld couldn't remember the last time he had seen a look of hatred on her face.

"I don't care, because either way, I'm going to find the fucker who hurt my son, and not even death is going to grant release from my vengeance. Death Knights of Acherus, this is my order, as your Highlord, as your Deathlord, and as your mother, I want you out there, looking for her, and when you find her? Just make sure she doesn't die until I get there.

Lam'Guld stood there alongside the other members. They remained silent only because she had paused for only a few moments.

"What? Did you think because I admitted this meant I was going to read you a bedtime story and we could get to work in the morning? I meant now! Move your asses! Thalanor, I want as many people on that Bullhead as possible, don't stop until you run out of fuel! When you get there split up, search every hospital and clinic you can find, teams of three or more! Darmus, Pitwick, I want you to scour Beacon! Darion, Velann, I need you to find the Four, the last ping from Tirion's scroll puts them on Menagerie! GO!"

Lam'Guld barreled past everyone, he wanted to be on the first trip. It wasn't worth it to travel eight hours on horseback. Even two hours by Winged Steed was pushing it. This is what he got for not remembering to use the Death Gate before hand.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Ruby scanned the small area they had practically turned into a forward operating base since the dance two days ago. They had diagnosed York's injury, a arrow laced with Fire Dust to the lung. Any attempts to use Aura risked setting off the Dust settled there, they had set up a bubble to keep anyone from doing anything stupid.

The Knights had taken the attack of one of their own like a declaration of war, as she hoped they would. Grindstones were brought in, Runes were carved into the wall and you couldn't go more than half a foot without an Eye of Kilrogg watching you.

On the Beacon side of things, the Vytal missions had been delayed a week as the security breach was closed.

Feeling eyes on her, she looked to where Darmus and Pitwick were standing.

"What?"

"I'm just thinking, we really should have realized that you had an ulterior motive when you left Avernus."

"Really?"

"Ruby, the Silver Hand stories of your antics were our equivalent to the sitcoms here on Remnant. The one that went around for months was when you nearly convinced Uther to let you keep a dog you found." Darmus grinned slightly.

"I had a name picked out for it and everything…"

"Yeah, well, the point was that you always had a tendency to adopt strays. Also you never were quite right in the head. The idea of you deciding you wanted kids, and promptly blowing that up to a thousand undead Annihilator rip offs-"

"Do you two just spend your times watching movies or something?"

"Pitwick really hasn't had much to do and I was hospitalized, there wasn't much else to do but see what you people classify as culture."

"Just checking."

"-Anyway, you blowing it up to a thousand undead Annihilators that you were responsible for and calling them your kids is the exact sort of thing you would do."

"Are you implying I had problems back then?"

"YOU DID HAVE PROBLEMS, YOU STILL HAVE PROBLEMS!"

"I feel like you might be exaggerating."

"Ruby, you were in semi-openly in a relationship your murderer, and you still don't see anything wrong with this. You have problems." Pitwick deadpanned, "That's not including the fact that neither me, Darmus or Vandel could tell whether you and Illidan were trying to kill each other or flirting during your fights."

"The fights where I regularly set him on fire and he used eye beams? How did you think it was anything other than us trying to kill each other?"

"Excuse us if we got confused by the fact that you two tended to throw around innuendo and laughter as often as you threw around spells."

"Like what?"

"Like the time he impaled you and you wasted no time making a raunchy joke about 'his third blade'? I'm honestly kinda surprised it took as long as it did for you two to get a room."

"I was in a relationship!"

"With your murderer, who also, in case you've forgotten, murdered your adoptive father. Fuck, the more we talk about this the more I become convinced we are working for a mad woman."

"Don't you two have something to do other than point out that I tend to make fairly terrible life choices? Like tracking down the person who broke into one of the most important places on Remnant, nearly uploaded something, shot York, and, oh yeah, isn't damned to an eternity of torment in Crescent Rose, right now?"

"We're working on it, but the blood trail went cold, and it will take at least another day to find the owner of that scroll's manufacturing number."

Fuckity fuck.

"And the hospital teams haven't had any luck."

"I have another lesson, you two deal with this, and if Darion calls, do me a favor and tear Tirion a new asshole for me."

Ruby felt other eyes follow her as she walked down the hall. Ha! Bitch would be in for a surprise if she came to finish the job!

"-Any questions before you chose what to practice?"

"Yeah, when will we be allowed to start studying Fel magic?"

Blake watched Ruby pace around the front of the class.

"You're not."

"What do you mean we're not!"

"Ok, end of the day you can divide the magic I've discussed into two categories. Good magic, which is Light, Arcane, and Druidic magics, and Bad magics, which are Shadow, Fel, and Necromancy. I'm teaching you good magics, not bad magics."

"But you use Fel magic and Necromancy!"

"I'm also a soul improperly bound to my unrotting corpse by a black rite, so I really don't count. I barely use Fel magic as it is, I'm smart enough to avoid it when I can.

As for Necromancy, what's going to happen, I'm going to become more dead?"

Blake looked over her options again. She had been planning on learning Arcane, but something about...

"Blake? Your turn to pick."

"...Druidism."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Right then. I think I still have that book Furion gave me somewhere."

"Wait, do you not know how to do this?"

"No."

"Then why did you offer it?"

"I was trying to be polite! I didn't expect anyone to actually pick that tripe. I mean really? Who chooses to talk to plants when you could be throwing around fire or burn your enemies in righteous Light?"

Blake carefully kept her face impassive as Ruby continued to grumble about Druids under her breath.

"I want to try Druidism."

"Yeah, I heard you the first time."

Ruby added Blake's name under the corresponding column of the list. It was the only one there.

By the time they went around the room she was still the only person in that column.

"Right, I'll have copies of books on the basics of Arcane magic and Light next week. Blake, why don't you come with me and we can go grab that book?"

Blake watched as Ruby worked on something, thinking about the best way to put it.

"What was that?"

"Hmmm?"

"You just… you just started to mock me for choosing Druidism in front of everyone."

"Yeah… sorry about that. I have problems with Druids on both a professional and personal level."

"Was there anyone other than Illidan that you actually liked on Azeroth?"

Ruby complained about people on Azeroth often enough that Blake wouldn't be surprised if she said no.

"Yeah! Jaina, Li Li, Chen, Tyrande, Anduin, Baine, Khadgar…"

"So what's your problem with Druids?"

"They kinda burned a lot of bridges, even among their own people."

"Ok…?"

"I'm talking about Kaldorei Druids. At their insistence the Highborne were exiled, so mages have problems with them. Meanwhile Necromancers and Warlocks have their own problems, seeing as we're unnatural."

"And their own people?"

"When your people need your help and you show back up, take control back, and then don't do anything about the people invading your lands, it tends to breed resentment. Some Kaldorei actually started to learn Arcane magic, because they suddenly weren't sure if the Druids were right."

"Ok, so that's the professional, what about the personal?"

"The last time I spoke to the Archdruid I _may_ have told him to do some rather unpleasant and biologically impossible things with an antler."

"Why?"

"Malfurion dragged me through the portal during the last battle of the Legion invasion… I may have taken exception to that."

"Oh-"

"Don't move!"

"Wha-"

Ruby waved her hand, and a shimmer raced down the hall.

"Sorry about that, I forgot to key everyone in, if you had gone any farther they would be some unpleasant consequences.

Blake looked around the hall, how had she missed those eyes?

"Come on, let's go grab that book."

\- X LINE BREAK X-

Sally watched the confrontation between the former Highlords, and felt her lips pull upwards.

On one side, you had Darion, who looked completely unamused as he looked around the encampment, on the other, Tirion, who Sally was convinced would be sweating, if his body still allowed for it. So much for keeping it a secret, you couldn't blink suspiciously around Darion without Ruby finding out. A half built garrison with a Naaru? There was no way they were keeping this a secret without killing him… was that an option?

"You want to explain all of this Tirion?"

"Darion! What are you doing here?"

"Ruby asked me to find you, one of our own was injured in an attack. Now, I'll repeat the question. Do you want to explain this to me, or do I need to call Ruby all the way out here? Because I can assure you that it will be extremely unpleasant if she needs to get involved."

As Tirion started to explain, Sally let her mind wander, what had happened to Renault's cute little brother? Now he was constantly angry and- _maybe_ she should have been paying a bit more attention, seeing as Darion just drove his fist into Tirion's face.

"-Given up enough! Now you want her to do this!?"

"In any other scenario I would agree, but in this one, everybody has to give every sacrifice they can."

This time, Sally saw the punch coming, and knew there was no way Tirion didn't.

" _How long_?"

"What?"

"How long has this been planned out?"

"What?"

"How long has, Azeroth, Elune, whoever, had this planned? How long has it been since Ruby had a choice on how her life went!?"

"... Since the beginning."

Sally watched as Darion tackled Tirion to the ground, punching him repeatedly. She moved, grabbing him, and dragging him off the Red Horseman.

"Sally! Let! Me! GO!"

"Not until you calm down!"

"LET ME TAKE HER PLACE!"

"You can't."

"Why?!"

 **Because, Mother has made her decision, and Mother is too headstrong to back down.** A voice spoke in their heads, the song of tinkling bells echoing in their ears.

It was only then that Sally noticed the cracked skin flaking of Darion's face.

The Naaru floated over, Anduin limping beside it.

 **Ruby Rose will become the Life Binder and lead the Aspects, or the Lich Queen, and be their first foe, which one is a decision for her alone to make.**

Darion shrugged his way out of Sally grasp, marching away.

"Velann, come on, we're leaving."

"Darion! Don't do this! You can't face what's coming alone."

Darion spoke, and when he spoke it was a contemptuous growl.

"I guess Uther was right. Once a traitor always a traitor."

Tirion flinched back slightly.

"I'll give you a warning Fordring, don't come back to Acherus for a long time. I can't promise you won't have an accident."

Sally looked over at Anduin, who was looking between the two of them. Inclining her head in Darion's direction, her message clear, she would take responsibility for the fallout.

The former king limped over to Darion. The son of the Ghost Wolf stared down the son of Ashbringer.

The older of the two relented, helping Anduin onto the the Winged Steed.

"There's going to be hell to pay when Ruby finds out about this."

\- X LINE BREAK X-

Yang looked down the hall. Well, nice to see they had gone from kinda creepy to paranoid serial killer. Seriously, was that drawn in blood, and where did they get that many eyes? How was it nobody had said anything about this?

Maybe it was because people had started to head out on their missions. Ruby had been abusing the fact that they were supposed to be shadowing Qrow to delay leaving as long as possible.

Yang felt shivers down her spine as she walked down the hall. Were those eyes following her?

"Ruby, can I talk to you?"

Yang's little sister stood from where she was hunched over a set of maps.

The room was thankfully empty, the Knights were moving their injured member while everyone was out.

"Where are Blake and Weiss?"

"Weiss said she needed to do something with the SDC, Blake's in town."

"Ok, what do you need?"

"Why did you lie to me? About what happened?"

"It's over now, why do you care?"

"I thought I failed you."

"hm?"

"Your story made it sound like I had missed that there was nothing but a puppet pretending to be my sister for years."

"Oh…"

"Why didn't you just tell me? I get it was hard to believe, but was it really worth lying to me about this?"

"I wanted to recapture my memories of Beacon. It was also kinder."

"Kinder? How was it kinder to let me believe that I hadn't noticed that my little sister was gone?"

"Because it gave you hope. Hope, that I could go back to the way I was."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Yang, I'm a monster. Every one of you can insist otherwise all you want, but it is the truth. The story I told you? Whatever Velann told you? It doesn't cover the half of it."

Yang looked at Ruby.

"I spent years of my life as a loyal servant of the Scourge, and when I turned against them, there was no happy go lucky moment where I realized the error of my ways. I did it because I was greedy and wanted revenge.

Tell me Yang, have you ever heard the noise a child makes when you disembowel it? The noise a demon, a creature of pain and hatred, makes when the torture become too much and it begs for death? The sound a man larger than Dad makes when he is fed to a pack of starving ghouls?"

Yang shook her head, eyes wide.

"I have, more times than I can count. Varok put it the best, it's the sound of a swine being killed. When Arthas died, and we no longer had any goal, many of us gave up."

Yang swallowed, gave up?

"Ruby, you can stop now, I get it-"

"I remember looking down the ramparts of Icecrown Citadel, and seeing the piles of bodies. Paladins and priests who realized how close to being like Arthas they had come in trying to stop him. Forsaken and Death Knights who couldn't justify what they had done once Arthas was dead. I saw a Gnome sobbing over the body of a Troll. The War against the Lich King brought out the best and worst in us."

"How did you stay alive?"

Ruby bared her teeth, "Spite. I had just gotten my life back, I wasn't going to give it up that easily."

Yang looked at Ruby, "You really are messed up aren't you?"

"Just noticed?"

"I guess it never really sank in before now."

"Want me to leave?"

"Hell no! You might be messed up in the head, but you're still my little sister!"

"Aren't you the little sister now?"

"Oh Dust…"

"So tell me-"

"Ruby you're not doing this! Ruby!?"

"-any boys, or girls, you want to tell your big sis about?"

"You can't do this to me!"

"Because back when I had a big sister she told me that it was the the job of older sisters to threaten anyone who might break their little sister's hearts."

"Ruby!"

Ruby through back her head, laughing evilly as Yang sputtered for an answer.

Until the sirens went off.

Both sisters looked at each other, what those meant had been drilled into their head since they were little, there were drills for what to do in non-combat schools, and even Signal (though those were significantly different.)

"Oh, _Dust_!"

"Fuck."

Ruby rushed over to the desk, grabbing Crescent Rose, the other scythe she had, and Illidan's glave.

"Ruby, Blake's in the city!"

"She'll have to hold out until we get there! Try to call her, tell her to hunker down! I NEED EVERYONE WITH A DEATH GATE TIED TO VALE HERE YESTERDAY! VALE IS UNDER ATTACK!"

The last part was roared into her scroll, and Yang could just barely pick up a response as she dialed her partners number.

"Blake!"

"Yang! There's Grimm everywhere!"

"We're coming to meet up with you! Ruby says to find a place to hide and stay safe!"

"I can't, there are civilians who need help getting to safety."

Yang heard the roar of an Ursa from the other side, before it was cut off by the crackling of fire.

"Blake!?"

"'All you can do is talk to trees' she said, do me a favor and ask Ruby if she ever bothered to actually read that book would you?"

"Blake don't-!"

Yang cursed as her line went dead.

"How are those reinforcements coming!?"

"Not good! Something is sabotaging the the Death Gates, every time we try to open one a blast of Light destroys it! They're sending as many people as possible on the Bullhead but it will take at least an hour to get here!"

"Blake hung up!"

"Crap! Darion where are you!? Good! At least something is going right today! Land at Beacon!"

Ruby rushed down the halls.

"Where are you going!?"

"I'm going to buy some time, Grimm ignore my Phylactery so I should be fine!"

"What about Atlas!?"

"They're doing their best, but the Grimm are pouring in too fast! Whoever planned this out knew exactly what they were doing!"

"I'm coming with you!"

Ruby wheeled around, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"No you're not!"

"I can take care of myself!"

"People are going to _die_ out there Yang, I can handle it, and I'm sure Blake has seen enough shit with the Fang to stay calm, but I need you to wait for when we go on the offensive."

"I'm not some little girl you need to-"

"FOR FUCKS SAKE JAINA YOU'RE NOT GOING IN THERE!"

"Jaina-?"

Ruby had already whipped around, heading for the exit.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Blake fought off another Grimm, blasting it with a ball of fire.

Blake didn't get what Ruby had been complaining about, this was easy!

Everything she tried worked like a charm, maybe it was because she had a detailed explanation of where Malfurion had made his mistakes?

The book (which Blake was starting to suspect Ruby had never read) was a copy Malfurion's journal from when he was learning himself.

Moonlight leapt from her fingers, piercing through the inky blackness of the Grimm.

Admittedly, she hadn't tried transforming yet, Ruby had regaled her with the story of a Druid who turned himself into a Sea Lion and was unable to turn back for a week.

Blake wasn't sure what a Sea Lion was, but Ruby's maniacal laughter was all the evidence she needed that she didn't want to be stuck as one.

Blake called upon a purifying rain, healing the injured.

The only problem she could see was that it had so much more to learn than the other styles of magic. She had been reading the book almost non-stop and she still hadn't made a dent in it.

Suddenly the ground gave way, and Blake was staring into the gaping maw of a King Taiju.

She didn't have time to use a clone to get out of there, she only had time to close her eyes and wait for the end.

 _Weiss, Yang, Ruby… I'm sorry._

…

…

…?

The end was surprisingly painless considering it was coming at the jaws of a giant snake.

 **Man,** _ **that**_ **would have been an embarrassing way to die! "Look at me, I'm Blake Belladonna, I'm the first Druid on Remnant, I'm the best!" SNAKED!**

Blake cracked open one eye, then the other, and felt her jaw drop as she looked around.

She was on a long grassy field, and in the distance she could see trees, so large that only their trunk was visible, and she could tell that, had she been standing in front of one it would been as large as the CCT tower.

"This has to be a dream…" Blake heard herself breath.

 **Well, you're not wrong, though, maybe not the dream you were expecting.**

Blake turned to look at the origin of the feminine voice, only to freeze.

Once, Blake had a single picture of her mother, it was gone now, Adam had torn it to pieces in a fit of rage. The woman standing in front of her was a mirror image of that photo except for one glaring detail.

She wore a white yukata, and Blake could see a black tail swish out behind her. Not for the first time, Blake wondered if it would have been harder to hide her heritage if she had inherited that from her mother. Black hair framed her face, where a soft smile sat, but where Blake _knew_ there should be golden eyes, there were green.

"Mom?"

The woman tilted her head,

 **No, but I thought you might prefer this form over, well…**

Blake staggered back, what the hell was that? … what the hell was what?

 **...That.**

"Who are you? _What are you_?"

 **I have no name, I have no need for one. As for what I am? I am this places keeper.**

"Where are we?"

 **Everywhere, Nowhere, Awake, Asleep, and for you, Alive, and Dead.**

"What?"

 **This is all taking place in the blink of an eye, just like how you can play out entire lives in your dreams.**

"Why did you bring me here?"

 **I want to make you an offer.**

"An offer?"

 **I scratch your back, you scratch mine. If you agree to do what I want, I'll give you the power to get out of the situation you're in.**

"And if I don't?"

 **Then you die.**

"Ok…" It was jarring to have it stated so plainly, "What do you want?"

 **That's not how this works Blake, you don't find out what I want until after you agree.**

Blake gulped, "You would really let me die?"

 **All things die eventually Blake, it's part of Nature's cycle. Even that** _ **filthy**_ **undead you call a friend will die eventually.**

The way the being wearing her mother's face said it, in the same tone people used to talk about Faunus, set Blake off, she rose to her full height, hissing.

"Don't talk about Ruby that way."

The creature raised itself up, standing taller than should be physically possible,

 **I hold your life in my hands Blake Belladonna, you stand in my domain, it is at my mercy that you haven't been turned into food for a snake.** _ **Do you really think that you are in any position to tell me what to do?**_

"When you insult my friend? Yes."

The being before her seemed to shrink, returning to the size it was before,

 **Loyalty is a gift that should not be given lightly Blake, are you sure you should be giving it to her?**

"Without any doubt."

 **Then let us both hope you never have need to regret it. Now, your answer?**

"Yes."

 **Just like that?**

"If it gets me back to them? Anything is worth that price."

 **Very well. My price is simple. Keep doing what you have been.**

"What?"

 **The most important thing for a druid is balance, unity. That is what you have been aiming towards, keep it up.**

"Then what was this all for!?"

 **To see if you were worthy of my gift. Now, Awaken from your sleep, Dreamer!**

Blake's eyes snapped open, and she knew what to do.

Green smoke flowed around her, and she could feel herself shift.

Both sets of ears melted into her head, horns sprouting in their place, and flaps of skin grew from her face, which was enlonging. Claws sprouted from her hands and feet, and her teeth were replaced with fangs. Wings burst from her back. Scales started to sprout along her body as she _grew._

Crushing the King Taiju in one claw she threw back her head and roared. In her head she heard the voice speak again.

 **All hail the Queen of Dreams.**

 **-** X LINE BREAK X-

" _MINIONS OF THE SCOURGE! SERVANT OF AVERNUS! HEAR THE WORDS OF YOUR DEATHLORD!_

 _THE HORDE AND ALLIANCE WISHES TO SEE US STOPPED HERE, AT THE DARK PORTAL! THEY HAVE GATHERED A PITIFUL FORCE TO STOP US! THE OUTLAND BELONGS TO THE SCOURGE! IT IS WHERE OUR ORIGINAL KING, NER'ZHUL ORIGINATED FROM! THEY TRY TO KEEP US FROM WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS! THAT IS WHY AS THE_ _ **HAND**_ _OF THE LICH KING, I AM DECLARING THE START OF A DEATH MARCH UPON THESE FOOLS! THE EARTH ITSELF WILL DIE, MARKING THE GROUND WE WALKED UPON TO CRUSH OUR FOES! WHEN THE SCOURGE RULES AZEROTH, THEY WILL MAKE PILGRIMAGES HERE, AS THEY WILL TO LORDAERON AND QUEL'THALAS, TO SEE THE_ _ **GLORIOUS**_ _DESTRUCTION WE WROUGHT!"_

 _Ruby rode upon Despair, howling her orders to the servants of Arthas. She didn't need to do this, but damned if it didn't feel good. Did this make her a megalomaniac? If so, she really couldn't blame Stormrage._

" _THE MAGES OF DALARAN HAVE RISEN UP AGAINST US ONCE MORE! THEY HAVE ALLIED THEMSELVES WITH THE_ _ **PITIFUL**_ _REMAINS OF THE SILVER HAND, THE SO CALLED 'ARGENT DAWN'. WHILE THESE SNIVELING WORMS ARE A MINOR INCONVENIENCE AT WORST, DO TAKE CARE, SOME OF THEIR STRONGER MEMBERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LOSE OF KIRKESSEN AND KEL'THUZAD."_

 _Kel'thuzad… she had been very happy to learn that he had been defeated, and even more annoyed that the morons of the Argent Dawn couldn't even destroy his Phylactery right. Seriously? He was one of the most dangerous members of the Scourge, why didn't they give his Phylactery to Tyrosus and have him shatter the damn thing?_

 _Now the idiot was floating around Naxxramas again, what little she had seen of him before departing seemed to point to him becoming even more obsessed with Arthas._

 _Point was a large part of this was the second half of her catharsis, the first had consisted of tearing the idiot who sold him back to them to pieces. Did he actually think they would give him Lichhood? Well, Arthas probably would have. He hadn't seemed to learn from Dar'Khan. Once a traitor always a traitor. Well, except for her!_

" _IT DOESN'T MATTER! WE CRUSHED BOTH THE SILVER HAND AND DALARAN BEFORE! WE SHALL FREEZE THE FLESH ON THEIR BONES AND SHATTER THEM! LEAVE NOTHING ALIVE!"_

\- X LINE BREAK X-

 _Nalores sighed, as she rode on the back of a supply cart to the Dark Portal. This was a promotion? She had been part of the raid to kill Kel'thuzad, now she was being shipped to some Light abandoned hellhole?_

 _Plus…_

" _This is great! Do you think we'll find anything to kill!? I hope we do!"_

… _she had to put up with Lilsalia._

 _The Night Elf mercenary had been shipped off with Nalores when Lord Tyrosus realized that they weren't getting rid of the mad woman otherwise._

 _The woman was a savage, butchering the undead with a glee more suited for the Scarlet Crusade. There was no joy in what they were doing, they were freeing poor souls kept from reaching the Light by the real monsters._

 _Arthas Menethil, Kel'thuzad, Dar'Khan Drathir, Lana'thel, Ruby Rose._

 _The Lich King, Archlich, Dark Magister, Blood-Queen, and Pale Horsewoman._

 _Each of the five had sold out their people for power, the greatest traitors since Medivh._

 _They controlled the five strongest Scourge strongholds. The Necropoli Naxxramas, Naxxanar, and Avernus to Kel'thuzad, Lana'thel, and Ruby, the bastion of Deatholme to Dar'Khan, and Icecrown Citadel to Arthas._

 _Dar'Khan had been the weakest of the five, a group of five Blood Elves had beaten him. It had taken forty men and women fighting their hardest to beat Kel'thuzad and even then the bastard had come back. Meanwhile no one had successfully pierced the defenses of Avernus and every expedition to Northrend had been wiped out._

 _Lilsalia gasped out in shock, and shook Nalores's shoulder. The dwarf looked up, opening her mouth to tell Lilsalia she didn't care, only to freeze._

 _The area around the Dark Portal was dead. Blackened, the trees shriveled. Nalores knew this, she had spent years fighting it. It was the Blight._

 _Leaping from the carriage, Nalores rushed to the only living person in the area._

 _He was strung up by a chain, a set of push daggers impaled into him. It was obvious that he had been tortured and left to die._

" _What happened?"_

" _She's here…"_

" _Who!?"_

" _The Pale Horsewoman."_

 _Nalores felt her blood run cold._

 _\- X LINE BREAK X-_

" _Lord Illidan."_

" _Hmm?"_

 _The Illidari knelt._

" _Reports from Zangarmarsh have come in, I thought you would want to know."_

" _What of?"_

" _Akama has been seen plotting with the Warden."_

" _And?"_

" _The Scourge is here."_

" _Are you sure?"_

" _Yes my lord. One of their Necropoli led by Ruby Rose."_

" _Ruby Rose… silver hair and eyes?"_

" _You know her, my lord?"_

" _We have met. I owe her something."_

" _You do?"_

" _Yes," Illidan leapt from his perch, "In fact, I think we should go give it to her now, remind her that I am the lord here, not Arthas."_


	12. Chapter 12

_Illidan watched the girl pull the dagger from her ally. Was she really so arrogant to think she could beat him?_

 _"So you are Illidan Stormrage."_

 _"Save the pleasantries."_

 _"Ok."_

 _Illidan saw the build up of Fel energy and launched himself into an arc over the roaring ball of Fel fire. Alighting on one of the crags surrounding the Frozen Throne, he looked down at the girl._

 _Did Arthas really think she could beat him? He had been the greatest warrior of the War of the Ancients, only Broxigar came close to him. Now he was even stronger._

 _Unless there was something he didn't know about her. Shifting his vision fully into the spectral he looked down._

 _Black chains of energy wound around the girl, the energy from them leaking into her._

 _Just a girl, a undead girl, but nothing that would put her anywhere near him in strength._

 _"I'll give you one chance. Move, and I'll spare your life."_

 _"I can't."_

 _"Then you will die."_

 _"Good."_

 _She slid down, obviously preparing to fight._

 _"This is my last fight Illidan Stormrage, make it the best I've ever had, then end me."  
_  
-X LINE BREAK X-

First were the bindings, her breasts would get in the way of the rest of the armor. Then the chest plate, she used magic to tighten the straps until it was properly worn. The cruise went on next, followed by the greaves.

There was something calming about going through these motions, they foretold her going into battle.

Gauntlets, vambraces, and pauldrons all went on. A belt was cinched around her waist.

Blake was out there, trying to save people. She would fail at some point. It was inevitable, it was impossible to save everyone.

What was with people like this that made her care? Ysera, Jaina, Anduin, Blake.

A ear piece went in, and she slid on the skull shaped helm. Cresent Rose and the Glaive went on her back.

Darion would land soon. Pushing herself to her feet she started to walk.

Looking up, she saw the Winged Steeds come in for the descent. Was there someone else on Darion's?

Her eyes widened under her helmet as they landed.

"Anduin, what are you doing here?"

How? She'd left him on Azeroth! Had he found some way to follow her? Why? Didn't he understand it wasn't safe to around her?

As he opened his mouth she raised her hand, "No, it isn't important right now."

There were other things to deal with, grabbing him by the arms, she spoke.

"We're in the middle of an emergency Anduin. Get to the medical wing, help out wherever you can. Remember-"

"-If I can't save them, it isn't my fault. Don't waste time trying to save them if it is clear there's no hope, I'm only endangering people who I could save."

Ruby nodded, "That's my boy."

She let him go, watching him limp off and a weight seemed to settle on her back.

"Velann, I need you to stay here, you'll be coordinating the ground teams with each other and the Huntsmen forces."

The High Elf nodded, her face serious. Any remaining bad blood would wait until after this was over.

"Darion, you're with me."

"Right."

"Wait!"

They turned to see Summer running towards them.

"I'm coming with you."

"Mom-"

"No! I'm fine with you telling Yang she can't go, but you aren't allowed to say that to me!"

"Fine," reaching into one of the bags she pulled out a pair of earpieces, "take these."

Ruby climbed on the back of Velann's winged steed, before pointing at the other one.

"You'll be riding with Darion."

"Ok then, how does this-"

Ruby cracked a smile at her shriek.

They rode in silence the way there, the calm before the storm.

Finally swooping low, Ruby scanned the area.

"The airship docking bay is getting hit hard, can you buy them some time?"

"What about you?"

"I'm going after Blake."

The two of them broke off, flying to one of the largest concentrations of people.

Ruby glanced down at her scroll, Blake's aura was hovering above the red, and still dropping.

Looking up, at the cry of a raven the Highlord had just enough time to grit her teeth before the flurry of feathers smashed into her. The last thing she felt was the weight leave her.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Summer rolled off the damn thing with a sigh, "Never again."

How did they do it? They could have fallen and gotten killed, but both Darion and Ruby didn't finch.

"As touching as your reunion with the ground is, we are here for a reason."

Leaping up, Summer looked at the horde of Grimm gathered below them.

"So what are you going to use some sort of- and he jumped."

Darion had stepped of the building, plummeting the three stories to land on an Ursa.

Cursing slightly, Summer jumped down, using her Semblance to slow her fall.

Winds buffeted the area, carrying rose petals as she landed next to Darion.

Looking around, she watched as a Creep walked right past her.

"Why aren't they attacking?"

"They haven't realized we're here yet. No sudden movements."

Moving with a grace unnatural to a man of his frame Darion slipped behind an Alpha Beowolf.

Darion reached up, wrapping his hands around his swords, he kept three fingers stuck out on on _e_ hand.

Three…

Two…

One…

Mark.

Darion tore the swords out, smashing them into the Beowolf with a roar.

Everything around the point of impact seemed to disintegrate. Leaving behind nothing but a pair of legs.

How much had they been holding back, had _she_ been holding back?

Summer pulled out Wither and Bloom, slashing at one of the gathered Grimm.

As Wither dug into the side of a Ursa with unnatural ease, the Runes on it blazed up, and ice crawled up the side from the wound.

Looking at all the assembled Grimm Summer raised her hand to the earpiece.

"Velann, how long till we get help?"

"They're on their way, twenty minutes."

"What about Huntsmen?"

"One sec… Goodwitch and Ironwood are in the dock."

"Tell them we're coming to help."

"I thought you were clearing out the Grimm?"

"There's too many, we won't be able-"

"Ignore that, Glynda and James are coming to you," Ozpin's voice cut across the channel.

"What?"

"The Grimm are getting in through a hole, if we don't close it up they aren't going to stop, Glynda, James, Peter, and second year team CFVY are coming to you, you need to fight your way through the Grimm and close the hole, no matter what it takes. Do you understand?"

"Loud and clear, Ozpin."

-X LINE BREAK X-

"I can't believe you actually brought it along."

"Hey, if there was ever a time to use it, it would be now!"

"Ruby's going to kill you."

"And I'll die happy! Zaala, get over here and help me raise this thing!"

"What _is_ that, and why have you brought it to my school?"

" _This_ , is close air support, Ebon Blade style!"

"We aren't trying to destroy the city."

"It'll be fine! A bit chilly, but fine!"

-X LINE BREAK X-

Ren sighed, Nora was once again proving to be a boundless fount of energy, even after spending the last few hours fighting Grimm. If anything, being able to take her frustrations at, _certain_ parts of Beacon made her more hyper.

As they walking into the village, though, something seemed off. Professor Peach was waiting for them with a serious look on her face.

"Students, we must cut this short."

"But, why?" whined Nora.

"Vale has come under attack by a large horde of Grimm. All Huntsmen teams are being called back to purge the city of the infestation."

"But, it's hours away!"

"Then they'll need to hold on until we get there."

Ren noticed Jaune shift uncomfortably, "Are- are you sure we're ready? We're only first-"

Jaune trailed off as Professor Peach's eyes, normally an inviting blue, drilled into him.

"You've had four years of training for what to do in this scenario, Mr. Arc, I'm sure you can dreg up what they taught you at Oasis."

Jaune went to Oasis? Why? Vacuo was on the other side of the continent. Everything that Jaune said pointed to his family living near Vale.

"Uh- Yeah! Of course!" Jaune gave the nervous laugh, the one that said that _no_ he didn't know what she was talking about. Ren saw Pyrrha bury her face in her hands.

Professor Peach's eyes had turned to shards of ice, making it clear that she didn't buy it for a second.

"We'll be going over this, and calling Oasis so they can explain why you don't know this, when this is over with. Ms. Nikos, you'll be taking charge of team JNPR until this crisis is over."

"Professor Peach, I really think Jaune should-"

" _Ms. Nikos_ , we are currently in an emergency. While your faith in your leader is commendable. We can not risk the lives of the people in our care by putting someone who does not know the procedures for something like this. According to the treaty of Vytal, as a Huntress, I am completely in my right to remove Mr. Arc from his role in times of emergency. If you are unwilling to take the charge, I will have to give it to Mr. Lie."

"I believe in Jaune-"

"It doesn't matter what you believe in. There are people in Vale right now that believe that the Huntsmen will save them. What they believe matters, and we can't guarantee that belief with Mr. Arc in position."

"..."

"Very well, Mr. Lie, take charge."

"Ok."

Ren had seen his home be destroyed by Grimm. He wouldn't let Vale go the same way.

-X LINE BREAK X-

A pile of rubble sat on the ground, the broken body of a skeletal gryphon next to it. Giant raven feathers jutted from it.

A transparent green tinted version of Ruby Rose floated out of it, before dropping to the ground, color flooding her form.

"That never stops being weird."

Wraith Walking was a skill Ruby preferred to avoid. The Shadowlands held no comfort for her. Bringing forth memories of her time at Kel'thuzad's _tender_ mercies.

The best she could say about the time was that it was a haze, the Endless Hunger tore at her mind, leaving her incapable of remembering long stretches of it.

The scars from when he used her as his test subject had all faded when she became a Lich, only the scar from Arthas remained. The wound from Frostmourne had scarred her very soul.

Pulling out her scroll, she looked at the tracker. Blake was half a mile north from her. A ten minute walk through the city. Less if she used her Semblance.

Bending down, Ruby launched herself forward in a storm of rose petals. She wouldn't be too late. Not again. Never again.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Yang watched the man bustle around the room. Or, at least, as well as a man with a cane could.

He had come in with Darion, and Yang could tell that Ruby was equal parts happy to see him, and terrified that he was there.

They had been waiting when the first group of civilians reached Beacon. That had been the point where Yang started to think Ruby might have had a point.

Most of the injuries had been minor, a gouge here, a cut there, but there was one man…

It made her queasy just thinking about it. They had been shown injuries from Grimm attacks at Signal, but it didn't, _couldn't_ , capture the real thing. The smell, the way the gaping hole in his side, through which Yang could see his ribs, seemed to grow.

But the foreign man, and even that seemed wrong, he couldn't have been more than four years older than Yang, hadn't even flinched, moving forward, he had gently batted the the gathered family members away with his unoccupied hand.

Laying it on the injured man, he had seemed to focus for a second, before Light started to shine beneath his hand.

It was different from the other time Yang had seen it in action. Then the Light had seemed harsh, though that might have been because of Ruby and Summer's reaction to it. This was a calm gold that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat.

When he lifted his hand, the wound had healed. There were scars, but the man would survive.

They had sent the worst injuries to him from then on.

Yang watched as he hovered over another man, before he closed his eyes, and shook his head. Reaching down, he pulled the sheet at the end of the bed over the body, and moved on to the next one.

How was he taking it so calmly? People were dying!

"How?"

He didn't respond, moving on to the next person.

Was this what Azeroth was like? So bloody that you didn't even flinch when people died around you?

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Sure, there was danger in being a Huntress, but it was to you! Not bystanders like this!

Yang was duly aware of someone guiding her away by the shoulders.

"Come on, it will be alright."

Dad.

"Where's Mom?"

It slipped out. Summer wasn't her mother, but something about having her back made the search for Raven seem less important.

"We don't know where Rae is."

"Summer."

But… Summer was there when Raven hadn't.

"She went out with Ruby."

That's right. How had sheforgotten?

"Are they ok? What about Blake?"

"They're fine, just rest, we're going to be busy tomorrow."

When had they gotten to the room?

"Don't go."

"I have too. Don't worry, Weiss is here."

The white haired girl was going through her supply of Dust. The way she did it, going around in order of where they would rest of Myrtenaster ad nauseum, and her unfocused eyes made it clear that she was in shock too.

Tomorrow would be easier...

-X LINE BREAK X-

He waded through the Grimm, but the didn't notice him.

The same couldn't be said for his prey. They stared right at him, weapons tense.

"Darion… Mograine…"

He knew the name, he knew the face. But he didn't recognize the weapons. It wasn't the executioner's blade. Nor was it the Ax, a craven attempt at capturing a fragment of the king's strength.

Raising the chainsword up, he started it.

"Arthas… Menethil… sends… his… regards…"

The king hated the man, he took his queen's attention from him. Had he never come into their existence he would have never lost her.

"Arthas Menethil is gone!"

"Is… That… What… You… Think…?"

It hurt to speak, every word had to be forced out.

He looked over at the Faunus. She was looking at him.

"Why… Don't... You… Join… Us…?"

"She'll never work with you!"

"I... Didn't... Ask... You… _Human_..."

He raised the blade in one hand.

"Adam... and... Arthas... Will… Reward… Me… Well… For… Your… Head… Mograine…"

"Go on ahead, I'll be right there."

He let them go, he could hunt them down after.

"Buying… Them… Time… With… Your… Life…?"

Mograine lowered his head, his body shaking. This was one of the men who stopped his master?

Charging forward, he swung at the coward's head.

Only for his sword to explode into fragments of metal.

" _Yesssss_."

Mograine looked up. A grin visible under his helmet. His voice was a rasp.

"Did you really think that you would beat me this easily?"

The grin widened.

"I've been waiting for this."

The blades moved, cleaving through his arms and legs. Chains of ice wrapped around him.

"Stay there, I'll be back later."

-X LINE BREAK X-

Ruby groaned. The Ursa had come out of nowhere, smashing into her as she slowed down.

Today was not her day. First Darion showed up, without the Four but with Anduin, then she got smashed into a wall and buried, then she had to use Wraith Walking, then a fuckin' _Green Dragon_ showed out of nowhere and she couldn't find Blake, _and then_ she got body checked.

Why was it that every time she tried to do the right thing it ended badly? Maybe she really should go back to the evil sociopath routine, at least she regularly _won_ back then.

Not Funny.

 _Oh, hush you._

Ruby glared up at the Ursa. The minute she got out of this wall it was in for a world of… and it froze. Like literally, in ice.

A squeaky voice called out from behind the newly made statue.

"Stay away from Mama!"

 _Oh come on!_ Was every "stray" she picked up on Azeroth going to show up today!?

"Thanks for that Emmigosa."

The little blue drake that had decided to follow her around on Azsuna, and was completely convinced that Ruby was her mother, biology be damned (something about her smelling like a dragon, and that being good enough for her), floated out from behind the icy bear.

"Mama!"

"I'm not your- you know what, I don't even care anymore, hello Emmigosa."

Tearing herself out of the wall she looked at where the Green Dragon was fighting. Dragging half forgotten lessons from Krasus up, Ruby spoke in broken Draconic, asking who it was.

The dragon looked at her in confusion. Turning to Emmigosa, Ruby spoke, "I didn't just imply its mother was a hamster or something right? My Draconic isn't _that_ rusty."

"No, you said it fine."

"What are you talking about Ruby?"

"...Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you a dragon?"

"I transformed into one."

"You transformed…"

Ruby trailed off, before launching into a tirade in Scourgish.

A Grimm tried to sneak up behind her, before she hacked it in two.

"Uh, Ruby, are you alright?"

"No!"

"What's wrong Mama?"

"FAUNUS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO TURN INTO DRAGONS!"

"She smells like a dragon. Kinda like you."

"Smells like a- nope."

"What?"

"I'm done. I don't even care anymore. Blake can turn into a dragon. Anything else anyone wants to reveal? There's an army of subterranean Trolls waiting to burst from the ground and feast on our flesh?"

"Mama, you're doing that thing again. When you stop with the emotions and start with the weird scenarios that are sometimes right."

"Emmi, I am beyond the point of emotions. I want to get this done with, so I can go back to Beacon, and pretend this is all just a bad dream."

"Ruby, calm down."

"Blake, I am calm, I couldn't be more calm if I was a Pandaren. Come on, there's a hole we need to cover."

Fuck. This. Day.

-X LINE BREAK X -

"How is he?"

Glynda looked out the window, hoping reinforcements would get here soon.

Mr Alistair had taken a hit from an Ursa, and was now unconscious.

They were _so_ close. The hole was on the other side of the Grimm.

The sun had set an hour ago, and the only light was that of the moon and the Grimm.

"He'll survive."

"Is there anything that your soldiers can do, James?"

James shook his head, exhaustion clear.

"No, they're too busy keeping the Grimm from pushing any farther out from the hole."

"What about the walls?"

"They're fine, the Grimm seem to be following the path of least resistance."

After the mad scramble of the first few hours, they had managed to contain the Grimm as more teams reached Beacon.

Now if they could only get to the hole and _close_ it they could work on wiping them out.

"What about the Ebon Blade?"

Glynda hadn't thought there would be a day she _hoped_ to hear from the order of bloodthirsty knights.

"Some of them are working on _something_. but the rest are manning the barricades."

"Ms. Belladonna and Ms. Rose?"

"Both back at Beacon. Last report says Ms. Rose is helping with whatever it is they're working on."

A chirp from James's scroll went off. Checking it, he sighed.

"They say it should be done within two hours. They needed to go find something."

Leaning against him, Glynda closed her eyes.

"Whatever it is has to be really good."

"I know."

"How are we doing ammunition wise?"

"Ms. Adel is out, and I have enough for a single volley. Ms. Scarlatina is ready, but it's not likely that we could get all the way to the hole, so I ordered her to save it until the Grimm attack us."

"This really isn't looking good, James."

"Chin up, we'll make it out of this alive."

-X LINE BREAK X-

"-Freeze all of Beacon, or do this."

"Stop your whining."

"I'm about to channel a stupidly large amount of arcane energy through me in the hopes that this _might_ work. I have every reason to complain."

"What's the worse that could happen?"

"I fry myself, disintegrate the skeleton and everything in the area blows up?"

"...Point. Try _not_ to do that, Highlord, please and thank you."

"Right, this is going to suck either way so shut up and let me focus."

Ruby closed her eyes, searching for the Ley Line. Setting her jaw, she began to siphon the pure energy through her body. She could feel it breaking down her muscles, so she needed to finish this quickly.

"QUEEN OF FROST! THE DEATHLORD CALLS UPON YOU AGAIN!"

The icy wind started to gather, picking up the bones and biting into her skin.

"LET THIS NEW WORLD FEEL THE ICY FLAMES OF YOUR RAGE!"

The winds were rapidly picking up speed, sending the other members staggering.

"TAKE TO THE SKIES, AND CRUSH ALL WHO STAND AGAINST THE MIGHT OF THE EBON BLADE!"

The bones snapped into place, swiftly building the skeleton of the Ebon Blade's trump card, given to them by Bolvar.

"SINDRAGOSA, RISE!"

The former consort of Malygos let out an ear piercing shriek. Resting Ruby on her back, she started to beat her wings, and took to the sky. Flying towards Vale.

Raising one hand to the earpiece, she spoke.

"Send up a flair where you are, and then get ready to rush for the hole."

-X LINE BREAK X-

Velvet whipped out a flare gun at the order, firing it into the air.

"Alright we see you. My advice? Hunker down."

"What?"

The beast cleared the space in minutes, launching across the sky.

Swooping low, it opened its jaw, releasing a wave of hoarfrost.

The Grimm froze in their tracks, before shattering.

"Move!"

The team cleared the space between them and the hole in record time, and Professor Goodwitch sealed shut the hole.

Collapsing, Velvet started to giggle. Coco looked at her strangely.

"What's up, Vel?"

"I… I just can't believe we did it!"

"Yeah, it did seem touch and go for a while there didn't it?"

The giant beast landed, looking at them, before Ruby rolled off it.

"Well, that was fun. Why don't we all head up to Beacon and rest for a couple of hours before we get to clearing them out?"

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"All right, all aboard the dragon express."

"Can't I just stay here?"

The weak question from Mrs. Rose sent Velvet off into another fit of giggles.

-X LINE BREAK X-

 _Jorin Deadeye glared up at the woman pacing around, spinning a knife in between her fingers._

 _Of all the times for Dranosh and Garrosh to disappear with the corrupted orcs, it had to be now._

 _Across the other side sat the Broken of Telaar. Shivering, scared, living up to their name._

" _Hello! It's nice to meet you all! Are you comfortable? Need a drink? Maybe have to relieve your bladder? Just say the word! We're only going to take a moment of your time and then you can go back to your pitiful existence."_

 _She stopped, a mad grin splitting her face._

" _So here's how it is now. Whatever you thought was in charge of the Outland, Warchief, Prophet, Farseer, Lord, you're wrong. There's a Queen in charge the Outland now. Me, and through me, there's a King, the only king that matters to you. I don't want to hear anything about any other Kings. No Varian Wrynn, no Genn Greymane, No Magni Bronzebeard. Your King is Arthas Menethil, rightful ruler of Lordaeron and the Lich King, heir of Ner'zhul."_

 _Jorin felt his one eye widen, Ner'zhul? The Warchief?_

 _She pointed to him, the savage grin on her face growing wider, "He gets it!"_

 _The girl went back to walking, spinning the dagger in her hand even faster._

" _There's two ways we can do what follows, the easy way or the hard way… Ok, let me rephrase that, either way will be easy for me, but you guys get the choice."_

 _She swooped down out of Jordan's sight, where his missing eye blocked him._

" _You haven't stopped glaring at me since this whole thing began. What's your name?"_

 _Silence stretched, and when the so called 'queen' spoke, Jorin could hear the smile._

" _Oh, that's how you want to play it? Ok, I can respect that. This actually works in my favor, let's me explain the rules of this game."_

 _Finally walking back into Jorin's line of sight, the dagger was now nothing but a green blur._

" _Today, we're playing with the Orcs, you spineless bastards can stop crying."_

 _The last part was directed over her shoulder, at the Broken._

" _One of you has information I need. Somewhere in," she spun on her heel, before stopping and pointing at a random point in the distance, "That direction, I think, there's a settlement. 'Thrallmar'."_

 _One of the other members gathered around coughed into his hand._

" _Thrallmar is in the opposite direction, Deathlord."_

" _Really? Huh. Normally it was Weiss who screwed up directions. Anyway, Thrallmar. Someone here knows how to get in there. You'll be giving us that information."_

" _Like hell we will!"_

 _Aggra._

" _And she speaks! Sorry to tell you this honey, but you will. Here's how this works. We're going to drag one of your members over here, and I'm going to ask questions. For every minute you don't answer, I cut off an inch of skin. It will be painful, they will scream, and if they are the one who knows, they will answer. Sounds like fun right?"_

 _She looked at them, the grin still on her face. The hand holding the dagger bounced off the open hand, clapping._

" _No? Too bad! We'll start with the old woman!"_

 _The dagger pointed to someone on Jorin's left._

" _NO!"_

 _Greatmother Geyah was dragged forward._

" _We'll establish another couple of rules. You can try run. You can talk amongst yourselves. But if any of you try to attack. I'll kill her and we'll move on to the next one. Now, it's been a couple of minutes since I asked your name. That means a couple of inches of skin. But, I understand, you didn't know what you were gambling at the time, so I'll be nice, if you answer me right now, I'll forget about it."_

" _...Aggralan."_

" _See was that so hard? Alright, first question, and," She laughed, "No need to raise your hand, just shout it out if you know the answer. Who is in charge of Thrallmar?"_

 _It was going to be a long night._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Ruby looked over her handy work. They had only gone through two of them, and the second one would survived. The old woman had held on for a surprisingly long time._

" _Now really, was that so hard?"_

 _The remaining Orcs cowered, they were scared of her now. Good. Except for the one eyed orc and Aggralan. Looks like she would have to drive home the message._

 _Licking the blood off the dagger, Ruby hummed at the taste. The San'layn improvements were extremely helpful._

" _Aggralan. Congratulations."_

" _On what."_

 _Why did everyone try to act so defiant? Didn't they get there was no point?_

" _On joining the Scourge."_

" _I'll never-"_

 _The orc hunched over, before collapsing. Not dead, but she would probably wish she was._

" _Bring her to Avernus. We'll be making some modifications."_

" _Yes, Deathlord."_

" _This was a productive night. You can all go back to… whatever it is you do. Worshiping rocks."_

 _Strolling away she hummed to herself. Man, was Arthas going to be so thrilled to see this. No way in hell was Kel'thuzad pulling out something better than an entire planet joining the Scourge!_

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

" _Ruby Rose."_

" _Save the pleasantries."_

 _Illidan felt his lips pull up slightly. So that's how they were doing this?_

" _Ok."_

 _The twinblades snapped together with practiced ease, before it was sent flying across the field at his foe._

 _The opening attack was deflected, though Illidan hadn't any intention for it to actually hit, it was merely a test of her reflexes._

 _Illidan span, dodging the tendral of fire as the blade came back to him._

 _She had been the only person in millennia to make Illidan work for his victory, a good practice for the invasion of Argus to come._

 _It still wouldn't be enough._

 _Illidan was fully aware that he hadn't left that damn cell sane, ten thousand years of isolation, not even being able to put himself out of his misery, and he had tried, tended to wreak havoc on the mind... But even he wasn't insane enough to think he could take on Kil'jaeden in his seat of power alone and survive._

 _But there was no choice. If the Legion was to be stopped, saving Azeroth and freeing him from Kil'jaeden's vengeance, Argus needed to fall, and it needed to happen now while Archimonde was reforming from his defeat. There was no force in existence that could beat both Eredar lords at the same time._

 _Splitting the glaives in two, Illidan surged forward, swinging for her throat._

 _She leaned back, and the blade hissed past her throat._

 _The scythe went for his spine, and he flipped over it, kicking her in the face._

 _Landing, he prepared to capitalize on the blow, only to grunt as he was sent skidding back by a greave clad boot to the sternum._

" _Nice try, but I'm undead, my ability to feel pain is shot to hell and back."_

 _Illidan searched for an opening, the balls of felfire that made up his eyes shifting across her._

 _She stood there, the knife she held in her right hand twirling slowly. The scythe rested gently on her shoulder._

" _This is thrilling Illidan, it really is, but I have other things to do, so could you please hurry up and tell me why you're here?"_

" _I am the Lord of Outland, your King has no claim over here, leave."_

" _Oh, that's cute, you think that you still have power. I thought you would have gotten that notion out of your head after you went whimpering back to Outland while I dealt with the scary Warden."_

 _The last bit was said like she was talking to a baby._

" _I didn't have time to kill you and leave."_

" _Awww, that's cute, you actually thought you could kill me."_

" _You seemed convinced I could kill you."_

" _I was convinced of a lot of stupid stuff back then. Like that there was actually a chance people could stop Arthas. Or that the Scourge was a bad thing."_

 _Keep her talking, she would open up a weakness eventually._

" _Is that all you've become? A pet? Something Arthas keeps around because it's loyal?"_

 _A strange look flashed across her face, before it settled into a look of smug superiority, it was a strange look on her face._

" _What's that make you? Hiding out on a dead planet, scared that Kil'jaeden will find you? Why don't you come work for us? We'll protect you from all the scary monsters, we actually freed ourselves from the Legion."_

" _You didn't free yourself from anything, you just replaced the one holding the chain."_

" _...Shut up."_

" _Does the truth hurt? You're not free, you're just a slave to a different master."_

 _He could hear her teeth grind from across the gap._

" _You don't know anything."_

" _I know a puppet when I see one-"_

 _THERE! She closed her eyes for a second too long, focusing on something, and Illidan capitalized on it._

 _Lunging across the marsh, he swung the Glaive in his left hand._

 _He felt a pain in his side even as he shorn open hers._

 _Glancing down, he saw the dagger dug into his flesh._

" _Lord Illidan!"_

 _Kayn._

" _It is fine just a-"_

 _Pain thrummed through his body._

" _-poisoned dagger."_

 _She seemed to pause, before staggering her way to her horse, attempting to hold her organs in_

" _Lord Illidan! We must return to the Black Temple."_

 _Had- had he just lost?_

 _No, she cheated, He would recover from this, and then they would finish this fight fairly._

" _We will have a rematch Ruby! And I will win!"_

" _I look forward to it dear!"_

 _Then Illidan collapsed._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Ruby looked over the balcony of Avernus at their current prey._

" _Are they ready?"_

" _Yes, Deathlord."_

" _Very well, FIRE THE CANNONS!"_

 _The howl of cannon fire lit up the night before and they could see the people collapse like flies down below._

" _The Siege of Thrallmar begins now!"_


	13. Chapter 13

"Why are you here?"

It was strange, Anduin thought, that Ruby seemed incapable of lowering her voice without it making her sound ready to kill you. It was the echo, it never changed. Nonetheless, he wouldn't change it for the world.

Luckily, Anduin had spent enough time around her that he could tell she wasn't so much angry, as she was frightened. That in and of itself was weird, Ruby didn't _do_ frightened. He had once seen her chose to _glare_ at Garrosh as half a ton of rubble came down on her head, and then show up a day later to butcher the Kor'kron holding him hostage.

"I got here on the ship, I'm sure Darion-"

"We'll deal with that, and if you knew about their plans-"

"I didn't, I would never go behind your back that way."

"Thank you. Then _why_ are you here?"

"I wanted to see you."

"Why?"

"...Everyone's gone Ruby. You're all I have left."

"That's not true! What about Furion, Velen, Baine, Genn?"

"Malfurion went back to sleep, we don't know when he'll wake up. Velen has been busy trying to get the Exodar working. Baine has been busy leading the Tauren, and King Greymane has been busy rebuilding Gilneas."

He looked down, embarrassed to admit the next thing.

"Bolvar's dead, so is Aunt Jaina, Thrall and Father. You're all I had left Ruby, and you just disappeared without telling me."

"It's safe on Azeroth."

"Why, because the Legion can't get there? Just because the Horde and Alliance aren't actively fighting doesn't mean that there aren't problems. And were you planning on doing the whole 'child of Light and Shadow' thing by yourself?"

He saw her flinch back, her hand reaching for the spot on her forehead where the mark of Xe'ra manifested on the rare occasion the Naaru felt like speaking. Both because it had little strength, and channeling the being of pure Light for any period of time wrecked havoc on Ruby's body.

Anduin had once spoke to the Naaru prime, using Ruby as a proxy body, as it pushed him to continue on his training despite his injury and duties as the king of Stormwind. Now he was wondering if it had known he was going to reach Remnant. (He also made a note to ask Ruby about the prosthetics after he won this conversation.) The discussion couldn't have taken more than three minutes, but smoke had started to billow out of Ruby's mouth in seconds, and when the connection was cut, she'd dropped like a marionette with its strings cut.

"It's dangerous on Remnant."

"More dangerous than running around an unexplored continent in the middle of a war?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Ruby gulped, and Anduin wondered, not for the first time, whether there would be a day she would stop pretending. It would be eerie, and slightly fascinating, to watch Ruby stand there, completely still.

"I'm here."

Anduin cocked an eyebrow, "Didn't you used to say the safest place in the world was right behind you?"

"That was before the trial."

"I won't end up like him."

That answered a question that had haunted Anduin for years, clearly Ruby was just as terrified of the duo as he had been, but she expressed it by caging herself off and avoiding anything that could cause them to become the two.

"No, it's," Ruby sighed, before reaching out and pulling his hair loose from the ponytail he wore it in, running her hand through it to let it flow out.

Ruby's jaw seemed to tighten as his hair settled, framing his face.

"You look so much like him at times… Both me and Varian wondered…"

"Who?"

"Arthas."

Anduin looked at her strangely, he had only been seven when the fallen prince died. Neither Ruby, Aunt Jaina, or his father spoke of him often.

It was strange because it was the one part of her "life" in the Scourge Ruby danced around. She had no problem monologuing about what she did in an attempt to disgust him on the rare occasion he made her angry enough.

On the even rarer, excepting when they traveled with Chen and Li Li, where it was pretty much common place, occasion that Ruby actually managed to consume enough high grade alcohol to get drunk, she would spin (bad) poetry about the death and destruction she left in her wake.

Anduin had long since accepted that the closest thing he could recall to a mother missed her days of indiscriminate slaughter more than she would admit to anyone, even herself.

Jaina, meanwhile, had often gotten into massive fights with Ruby, he could hear them from his room during the war, as she insisted that Ruby was proof that Arthas could be saved, and Ruby maintained that he was too far gone.

His father had raged about Arthas, his famous temper getting the better of him and leading to him howling about his best friend's betrayal, echoing through the halls of the castle and into the city.

"I look like Arthas?"

"You act like him too."

"Ruby-"

"I knew Arthas better than most people, Anduin, and I see so many of the things that drove him mad in you. I don't want to see you turn out like him."

"I'm not going to end up like him…"

"But what if you do? What if it's my fault? I'm not a good influence, I never was. I took care of you because I promised Bolvar I would keep an eye on you, but- Just, go back to the ship Anduin, I'll pay for a prosthetic, and then you can leave. I have a small house in the woods in Gilneas, it was still standing last I checked, you can have it. Live a long happy life, marry some pretty Draenei," Saw that one coming, "And let me just be a distant memory. Just a story you tell your children and grandchildren. You don't need me anymore, Anduin. You don't need a broken old attack dog to defend you now."

"But what if I want you?"

"You don't."

"But I do, I want to go back to when it was just you and me against the world. When you had us sleep on beds made from tree branches. I want to go back to when if we caught a rabbit we were eating well that night. When we walked for so long my feet blistered and you ended up carrying me, complaining the whole way."

Anduin stood up, and walked across the table, before pulling her into a hug.

"You're the closest thing I have to a mother, I don't want to lose you too."

Ruby's fingers dug into Anduin's back, "You and the Ebon Blade are all I have left. I burned bridges with Malfurion and Tyrande before I left, and nobody has seen Chen and Li Li for months. I just… I just want you to stay safe."

He would tell her that neither Malfurion nor Tyrande held it against her, and that Li Li and Chen had popped up shortly after she left later.

"And I can't think of a safer place on any world than with you, Mom."

Ruby seemed to freeze, before tightening her grip on him even harder.

"I don't want you to end up the same way as me Anduin."

"I won't, I've been practicing with the Light."

"That reminds me, there's something I had meant to give you. Give me a second to grab it off Acherus?"

"Of course."

Anduin sat patiently as Ruby walked into the Death Gate. When she walked back out, the gate seemed to flicker, like it was protesting whatever she brought through.

"Close your eyes?"

Anduin did so, and felt a weight settle on his shoulders. Opening his eyes, he looked down at the blue mantle enveloping him. It was strangely warm.

"I took that from Uther's grave years ago, when I took his hammer. It doesn't deserve to lie in the corner of some room in an unholy place. I want you to have it."

"Ruby-"

Anduin couldn't find words to articulate how big this was. Everyone knew that Ruby horded anything to do with Uther with an almost fanatical zeal. It had been her willingly giving up Uther's hammer for a chance to bring Tirion back that had driven home how desperate she was. For her to willingly give up something as big as this was…

"I- I can't."

"Take it, it's better off with you than it is with me."

Anduin sent silent, before tackling Ruby into a hug.

"I'm not going anywhere. We'll get that prosthetic, and then I'm going to train how to fight."

Slowly, haltingly, Ruby wrapped her arms around him.

"Ok."

They could have stayed like that for an eternity, but Ruby was called to a meeting with the teachers.

-X Line Break X-

Jaune looked around at the assembled teachers, everyone was there, even Ruby had just walked in.

"Ms. Rose, how is Ms. Belladonna?

"Still hasn't woken up, but the doctors say she should soon. Why am I here? This looks to be a meeting between the teachers of Beacon and Jaune Arc."

"You are, technically, a teacher of Beacon, you are also supposed to be in charge of training his team, though I can understand you shirking some of your responsibilities as more come up."

Ruby nodded, before settling against a wall, Jaune had noticed she didn't like to sit unless she was certain nothing would happen.

"Mr. Arc, Jaune. Evidence has come to light that points to you faking your transcripts."

Crap.

"What- what do you mean?"

"There are no records of your transcripts or that you were there at all, from Oasis."

Jaune sighed, looks like the gig was up.

"Yes, I faked my transcripts."

Jaune looked around, all the teachers were looking at him in varying states of shock and anger, and then there was Ruby. Her face was twisted into a sneer as she looked at him.

"Mr. Arc, you do know that this is a punishable offence? There are laws against sneaking into a Academy."

"I… I just want to help people. Is that wrong?"

"Jaune, who's in charge if both Ozpin and Goodwitch are incapacitated or dead?"

Jaune looked at Ruby when she asked the question. What did that have to do with helping people?

"Well?"

Pyrrha and him hadn't gone over this, they had been training on how to fight.

"I don't know."

"Where are the three primary shelters for Grimm attacks?"

"I don't know."

The teachers seemed to grow more agitated.

"Jaune, there's a reason we go to primary combat schools, to learn these things. It takes more than a bit of fancy footwork to be a Huntsman. And you're not the best at fighting as is, even if you are getting better."

Jaune stayed quiet, looking at his feet. He wanted to be like his sisters, was that so much?

"Jaune, did you have your Aura unlocked when you came to Beacon?"

Jaune shook his head.

"When did it get unlocked?"

"In the forest, by Pyrrha."

"How did you survive landing?"

"Pyrrha caught me."

Silence seemed to stretch out.

"Did you ever think about what would have happened if she hadn't? You were falling from over a hundred feet up."

"No?"

"I've seen the end result of that Jaune, it isn't pretty. And what if you had been attacked by Grimm before Pyrrha found out you didn't have your Aura unlocked? First day alone, and you could have died twice."

"But Pyrrha was there!"

"You can't keep clinging to her as a crutch, one day she might die, or team JNPR might split up."

Jaune kept his head down as tears pricked his eyes.

"And you, there's no way you didn't know about this, so why did you let him in?"

"I felt it was a calculated risk."

Silence stretched between the two, before Ruby broke it.

"I'm the last person to reprimand you on this, so I'll give you a warning instead. You're playing a dangerous game. Too many times have I seen men and women take 'calculated risks' and have it end badly Ambroise Ozpin. Do your best not to end up the same."

"Didn't you just say that you had no room to judge me?"

"I'm not judging you, merely warning you that it get's easier to justify things as calculated risks the more you do so."

"Thank you for your advice Highlord Rose, but we are not here about me."

Suddenly every eye was on him again.

"What do we do?" asked Oobleck.

"He meant well, I say we give the boy a chance," there was Port.

"Yes, but there are laws against this sort of thing for a reason Peter." Peach.

They went around in circles, arguing for or against him. Finally Professor Ozpin spoke out.

"Highlord Rose, your opinion?"

"Mak'Gora."

"You'll have to explain, I don't know the term."

"Trial by combat. He'll train over the break with a single weapon, not Crocea Mors, but an unnamed weapon, new, with no history, just like him. At the end of the break, he will duel a representative of Beacon who will also use one weapon. No armor, no Semblance. They'll fight until only one is conscious."

"And what happens if he wins?"

"If he wins he'll be sent to Signal, to learn from the beginning. It is the kindest we can do, he isn't ready for Beacon. Not with his current lack of knowledge."

"And if he losses?"

"He'll be blacklisted from every Academy on Remnant."

"That seems a bit much, we are to expect him to learn how to use a weapon well enough to beat someone from Beacon in a month?"

"He was convinced that he could catch up to the students of Beacon. Let him prove it."

"Considering the other option is time in jail, I think that is more than fair." Ozpin threw out his opinion.

Jaune tried to keep his breath stable, blacklisted? He would never be a Huntsman then.

"Who will train him?"

"He'll find his own."

"And Team JNPR?"

"Put someone else in charge."

"Jaune, do you understand the chance we are giving you?"

"Yes."

"Be thankful, this could have ended a lot worse for you."

"Hand over the sword Jaune, I'll give it back when this is over, one way or another."

Taking his family's sword from his hip, he handed it to Ruby.

"Who knows, maybe you'll find a weapon you prefer."

"Yeah, maybe."

Jaune made it to the elevator before the tears of frustration came. He had a month to get a new weapon, figure it out how to use it, and be ready for a fight against someone who almost certainly had more experience than him.

It felt all the world like Ruby had hung him out to dry.

-X LINE BREAK X-

"Therefore, we have reached out to the Atlas Council and together have decided that the best action is to appoint General Ironwood as head of security for the event."

Ruby leaned back in the chair, waiting for this to be over with.

The council had insisted she be here for this meeting, apparently. She was going to have a talk with Ozpin about the fact that he kept springing stuff like this on her. Also on her to-do list was haggle out some money from him. If she was part of the school enough to be involved with the meeting with Jaune, she was part of the school enough to get payed. That was money she could put towards Anduin!

"Highlord, we expect your forces to assist him."

The laugh was halfway out of her mouth when she realized he was serious.

"What?"

"We wish for you to assist with the security for the Vytal festival. In the last two weeks alone, your 'Knights of the Ebon Blade' have been instrumental in stopping two potentially disastrous attacks on Vale."

"You want us, the group who is were formerly attack dogs for a man dedicated to seeing the whole world enslaved to his will, to help with security for a public event? You do realize that most of us only have one real nonlethal option, and that consists of choking the poor sod out?"

"Yes, and that is exactly why we want you on this."

"Why?"

"There was evidence of explosives at the hole, Highlord, somebody let the Grimm in, we suspect that whoever did it is either the same person who attempt attempted to sneak into the CCT Tower or is associated with them. They have used two of parts of the Vytal Festival for their terrorist acts. Acts that, as we said, your order played a major role in halting. It is not too much to assume that they will attempt to use the Tournament for a third. If they do, we want you there to help stop them."

"And you can't just cancel the festival, people are scared, so they'll be looking to the Huntsmen and the Council for cues. If we cancel the Vytal festival, it makes us look scared. So all we can do is hunt them down over the next month while the damage is repaired, and be ready for their next attack if that doesn't work."

"Exactly. You're pretty good at this."

"I know how people like this think, I was one for years."

"Which is why we need you."

"Fine, we'll help. But I have other things I need to work on first."

"Of course."

Opening a Death Gate, to where she knew Darion was.

"Has he spoken yet?"

"No."

"Looks like I'm going to have to work my magic."

"Try not to be too loud."

"I make no promises."

As the door swung shut behind her, Ruby picked up a knife from the tray.

"My name is Ruby Rose."

"We… Know… Who… You.. Are… My… Queen…"

"Yes, well, We'll be getting to know each other rather well."

A vial of Holy water was splashed upon the blade, causing it to glow slightly.

"The… King… Wants… You… Back…"

"That's nice. Now, you aren't allowed to talk unless your answering my questions. How is Arthas still around?"

"Join… Him… This… World… Will… Be… His… Wedding… Gift… To… You…"

Ruby sighed, before running the blade down his chest, she would have preferred his arms, but Darion had taken them. Where the blade cut angry red welts appeared.

"We can do this all day."

"I… Won't… Speak… My… Life… For… The… White… Fang…"

"So it has something to do with the Fang, that information will be helpful."

"You… Can… Only… Do… This… For… So… Long…"

"I don't need long, Kel'thuzad taught me well."

"He… Loved… You…"

The blade impaled at the stump of his shoulder, and Ruby growled out the next words.

"Arthas never loved anyone other than himself."

"Believe… What... You… Will… My… Queen… He… Waits… For… You…"

"Let me make this clear. This will not be quick, it will not be painless, you will _beg_ by the time I am done with you."

"If... That… Is… What… You… Desire… My… Queen…

Then Ruby started on her grisly tapestry.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Blake looked down at the crashing waves. The spirit of the Dream lounged next to her in the form of a massive panther. They were in the Emerald Dream, looking down at its equivalent of Atlas's inland sea.

"Why are we here, Shan'do?"

It seemed right to refer to the being as such, perhaps because she had been learning from Malfurion's journal, and that was how he referred to Cenarius.

 **Look, and you'll find it eventually. You are supposed to be the Guardian of the Dream.**

Looking out over the vast expanse of water, Blake couldn't help the spike of annoyance at her mentor.

There was so much water, and the wisps that inhabited the dream floated over it, surging for one place.

Wait.

Peering through the swarm of wisps, Blake quickly saw what they were here for.

A massive tentacle burst from the water, ending in a fang-like hook. Groping blindly for one of the islands, the water around it was a sickly black and red sludge.

Each time the tentacle started to find purchase on one of the islands, the wisps would ram into it with explosive force sending it flying back into the water.

"What is that?"

 **An abomination, searching for a way into the Dreaming, to corrupt it.**

Blake barred her teeth as a rush of possessiveness ran through her. The Dream was hers, not whatever that thing was.

"How do I get rid of it?"

 **Sever its link.**

"How?"

 **That, is something for you to figure out.**

Stretching out, the panther walked away fading out of existence.

Blake looked at the tendral. How was she supposed to get rid of it? What was the damn thing?

It couldn't hurt to ask Ruby if she knew anything about it. Looks like she would have to wake up.

Pushing herself up, Blake stepped out of her bed, heading towards the door.

"Blake?"

"Hey, Yang. Have you seen Ruby?"

"No. Uh, what's up with your eyes?"

"What do you mean?"

"They're kind of," Yang gestured at her own face, "Closed."

"Huh?"

Bringing her hand up to her eyes, she felt the flesh of her eyelids over them.

"Green Dragons are like that! It's weird!"

Yang blinked and Blake… kind of scrunched up the area around her eyes, she couldn't seem to open them.

The little blue dragon that had been with Ruby was fluttering next to them.

"Like what?"

"They never open their eyes! Mama says they can still see though."

"Do you know where your, uh, 'Mama' is?"

The little dragon seemed to vibrate in place, nodding up and down. Blake… well, she didn't share a look with Yang, she couldn't, but she tried her hardest. Suddenly it made a lot of sense that Ruby didn't seem to show emotion much, it was _hard_ to show emotion without complete use of your eyes.

"Yeah! She's on that big floating thing she never let's me on!"

"Acherus, Emmigosa."

"Anduin!"

Blake "blinked" again, as the dragon disappeared in a blur of blue, latching onto the man who limped around the corner.

Throwing a weary smile that didn't quite reach his blue eyes their way, he allowed the dragon to drape itself across his shoulders.

"Kin-" he paused, before restarting, "Anduin Wrynn, and might I ask your names?"

"Blake Belladonna."

"Yang Xiao Long."

A spark of recognition flickered in his eye, "Ruby's sister?"

"Uh- Yes?"

"Ah, It's nice to finally put a face to a name."

"Ruby mentioned me?"

"On occasion."

"Right, you said Ruby was on Acherus?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't suggest going to find her."

"Why?"

""I'm pretty sure she's 'playing' with her new 'toy'."

"What?"

"She's torturing some poor bastard until he starts singing I am a Murloc in Nerglish."

Blake's eyes would have snapped open, if they were still capable of such.

"What! But I still have another month!"

"Apparently he said something that has both Ruby and Darion spooked, so I think they're making an exception'

"I'm going to talk to her about this."

-X LINE BREAK X-

" _I'm getting bored of this, Aggra, be a dear and get me Apocalypse would you?"_

 _The Orc shuffled off, her moted grey skin flaking slightly._

" _Such a loyal squire."_

" _You didn't really give her a choice Deathlord, you and our King essentially lobotomized her of any free will she had."_

" _It will be all the more satisfying when we go back to that village and have her lead the charge to butcher it."_

" _So we aren't actually going to let them survive?"_

 _Ruby laughed, "Of course not Redbrand, I'm just letting them wallow in their fear until we slaughter them like the pigs they are."_

" _Mistress, your sword."_

" _Thank you."_

 _As Ruby took up the unholy sword, felt her runic tattoos light up, concealed by her armor. A miasma started to gather around her feet._

" _I'll admit, they're tenacious, holding out for three days against the might of the Scourge, but it's time to put this game!"_

 _The Runes along Apocalypse blazed, and the miasma grew._

" _Death to the living!"_

 _Thrusting her sword forward, the miasma lunged after it, smashing into the walls of the fort and rising over them._

" _Leave the leader alive, he may have information we need!"_

" _Deathlord, who are you speaking to?"_

 _His question was answered when the doors opened, and a group of undead dragged an Orc wearing a wolf head to the front.,_

" _Oh, boy, a new toy," leaning down, Ruby looked at him, "What's your name?"_

 _When he didn't answer Ruby sighed, looking over at her squire she spoke._

" _Third from the thumb, left side."_

 _Aggra took out a knife as the undead holding him hyperflexed his arm._

" _You'll talk eventually. By the time we are done with you, you'll think that you always served the Scourge, just like Aggra here."_

 _Turning to Aggra, she spoke._

" _Do it outside Honor Hold, I want them to know what fate is coming for them."_

" _Yes, Deathlord."_

 _She watched as he was dragged away._

" _They'll know we're coming for them, Deathlord."_

" _Good, Illidan is doing something and I haven't had a decent fight recently."_

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

" _Aggra's dead."_

" _Yeah, I killed her."_

" _No, I mean she's dead again." Pitwick deadpanned, wondering if his boss was being deliberately obtuse._

" _How'd that happen?"_

" _Apparently the Sons of Lothar got sick of hearing the screams after the first hour. They shipped her back to us in a box."_

" _Well that was nice of them, I might actually make their deaths painle-"_

" _Alongside a bomb, we lost twenty geists."_

" _Blackneedle, take this down, we're feeding their leader his second in command's arm."_

" _Yes, Deathlord."_

" _What else do we have?"_

" _We're going to have to write off Shattrath, we're not making any progress and anyone that gets near it is destroyed by blasts of light."_

" _I'll talk to Arthas, continue."_

" _We are having more skirmishes with the Naga."_

" _Are they stopping our attempts to poison the water?"_

" _No."_

" _Minor problem, next."_

" _Stormrage is back."_

" _Illidan's back!?"_

 _The Deathlord snapped up from where she had been lounging on the throne of Saronite at the heart of Avernus._

" _Deathlord-"_

" _I'm going to go fight him!"_

" _You can't keep doing this-"_

" _We need to eliminate the Illidari, might as well cut the head off the snake!"_

" _You just want to go see your lover."_

" _He's not my lover!" She threw over her shoulder, marching away._

" _You had me fooled."_

 _Sighing, he pulled out the enchanted crystal they used to communicate._

" _Redbrand, grab a couple Vrykul and meet me at the stables, the Deathlord ran off after Stormrage again."_

 _A snort came from the other end, "I'm still wondering how the Lich King is taking the fact that his mistress is seeing another man."_

" _She claims she isn't. Also don't let you hear her say that, you remember the last person who said she was the Lich King's mistress."_

" _I don't get that, she makes no attempt to hide their relationship, she actively calls herself his queen, but gets angry when someone calls her his mistress."_

" _I think it's because she isn't his queen, she is just his mistress, and being reminded of the fact that the Lich King hasn't claimed her as such angers her. She thinks he still cares too much about Proudmoore."_

" _She's mad."_

" _She betrayed the world for the man, were you expecting sanity?"_

" _...If she did."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Nobody knows what happened in the throne room that day Blackneedle. All we know is that she went in, and she came out half an hour later as a Death Knight."_

" _The Lich King claims-"_

" _Yeah, 'claims.' I met Ruby Rose before this, if she was secretly plotting to end the world, she has the best damn poker face the world has ever seen. Seeing as she apparently managed to convince Terenas, Uther, and Alexandros that she was a kind hearted girl."_

" _So what you think that-"_

" _She went in there, fought him, died, and got raised? Yes. He's done it before. Can you imagine Alexandros Mograine, the Ashbringer himself, loyally serving the Scourge in life?"_

" _Point."_

" _Whatever, there's nothing we can do about it, it's just go after the damn woman._

 _-X Line Break -_

" _Illidan!"_

 _Vandel and Kayn, shared a look, before glancing down the side of Karabor._

" _It's your turn to go stop him."_

" _I did it last time!"_

" _Yes, but I'm your leader, so I'm telling you to go do it."_

" _You two took too long, they're already at it again." Kor'vas spoke, looking over the side._

 _Looking back down, the two demon hunters confirmed that yes, their lord was indeed rolling around on the fel corrupted ground of Shadowmoon valley with the Scourge leader. They hadn't even pulled out weapons._

" _By Elune's Light, how many times are they going to do this!"_

" _Fifth time since they showed up."_

" _Do we just sit here or-"_

" _Ereseeker got torn to pieces for getting in their way last time, we're still finding chunks of him, do you want to risk it?"_

" _No."_

" _That's what I thought."_

…

" _Did she just tear off a chunk of his arm with her teeth?"_

" _Yeah."_

" _...Those two are fucked up."_

" _Really!? Any other observations you want to make?"_

" _No."_

…

" _Oh, my, what is this?"_

" _They're either trying to kill each other, or having the roughest foreplay in the universe."_

" _That isn't true, there was one world we invaded when I served the Legion-"_

" _I'm going to stop you right there, I really don't want to know Matron Mother."_

" _You never let me finish my stories, Vandel, dear._

" _That's because they're normally completely disgusting, and I tore out my eyes after watching the Legion pillage countless worlds."_

…

" _Ok, how long are they going to go at this."_

" _Demons need to cause pain, so do undead, realistically, so long as one of them doesn't die they could do this forever."_

" _So, somebody is going to have to stop them?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Damnit."_

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _ **Halt.**_

 _The explosion of light forced the two of them apart, as a giant floating sigel descended. Ruby felt her skin flake._

" _Who the hell are you?"_

 _ **Xe'ra**_

" _What the hell do you want, we were kind of in the middle of something."_

 _ **I must speak to you.**_

" _Unless it consists of you surrendering Shattrath to me, I really don't care."_

 _ **Be silent Death Knight, I come carrying a message of both of your fates.**_

" _If I don't surrender I'll die, the Light will wipe my unholy form from this plane of existence, yadda, yadda, yadda-"_

 _Her eyes blazed like bonfires, the Silver flames burned away the Demons, unmaking them, banishing them to the Nether._

 _A green dragon swept its claws through the mass. Overhead, a trio of dragons, Blue, Black, and Bronze, rained their elements from above._

 _A High Elf stood atop a crag, arrows glowing with Light launched into the heart of the tide and exploding. Any demon that got to close was struck down by a man with a broken sword, Light radiating from his armor._

 _A Nathrezim, skin chalk white and wings aglow with Light met one of his brothers on the field of battle._

 _A man fought off to the side, a pair of sword radiating Light smashed together into one impaling a demon who came too close, the blue mantle flowing in the wind._

 _The ****** of the **** ****** stood beside her, helping the army, a complete antithesis to what they had been created as. At their head stood her second in command. A blade most holy swung through the demons, leaving naught but ashes in it's wake._

 _Someone else should have been here, but he couldn't for he was dead. This had been his goal. The least she could do was see it through with his students._

 _Ruby took a step back, gasping for air… Why had she done that?_

 _Illidan's face had gone impassive, as he looked between her and the Naaru._

" _I see… do they at least regard me for what I was."_

 _ **Yes.**_

 _He closed his eyes, "Very well."_

" _What was that!? I was around Light! That shouldn't have worked!"_

 _ **I have seen this. Whatever you were, whatever you are, a champion of Light is what you will be.**_

" _News flash, you overgrown wind chime, I'm undead, Light doesn't like me."_

 _There was little chance you would accept it today, while you are under his thrall. So we shall leave you with a reminder._

" _What-"_

 _It was like someone dug a hot knife into her forehead, carving something there. Ruby had started to claw at her face as the pain burned. It was too much. It Was Too Much. IT WAS TOO MUCH!_

 _Suddenly it was gone, and when she looked up, Illidan was leaning over her._

" _What just happened."_

" _I don't know."_

 _He was lying. She knew that._

 _-X Line Break X-_


	14. Chapter 14

Minor Note: I switched Jaune's trial to a Mak'rogahn, It's closer to what he is doing

\- X LINE BREAK X -

When it came to hiding her emotions, Nora Valkyrie had it down to an art form.

That wasn't to say what she did was faking, she really _was_ an extremely excitable girl with a sadistic streak, but she also knew how to _exaggerate_ those acts. It made people write her off, her defense against the world from a young age.

Nora was a simple girl. It didn't take much to make her happy, Ren, some pancakes, a Grimm to fight. She really didn't _want_ more than that, and people ignoring her because they thought she was a ditz worked for that.

It also kept her out of situations she would much rather not be in. Being placed in charge of Team JNPR now that Jaune had been removed, like Ren, for example.

Jaune had been moping around the room, as he was wont to do when things went badly, while they tried to brainstorm ideas for the 'Mak'Rogahn' thing-y.

"Maybe one of us could fight for him? Back when the Kingdoms allowed trial by combat that was allowed."

"I doubt it. I think Ruby is trying to prove that Jaune has learned to fight, so one of us doing it would defeat the purpose."

"Then what do we do? There's no way Jaune will be ready to fight someone in a month!"

"What we really need is someone who knows the rules of this. Jaune's not allowed to use his Semblance, which is fine because he doesn't know what it is anyway, but what about Dust? What other options does he have? How does he really win?"

"What does it matter? I don't even have a weapon," Jaune moaned out from the side.

"We can get you another weapon Jaune, and I doubt Ruby would send you in without one. Even if she did, we could have Ren train you."

"But where are we supposed to find out the rules? It's not like people from outside the Kingdoms are common."

"We could ask one of the Knights, Darmus seems to like Jaune."

"But what if Ruby told them not to?"

"She wouldn't of, Ruby isn't the kind of person who would suggest something like this just to make you look bad."

Nora mentally sighed, before jumping off her bed. Time to use the other advantage of her behavior.

Latching an arm around Jaune's neck, she started to drag him out of the room.

"Come on! It can't hurt to ask!"

"Hey! Nora, wait!"

Pretending to ignore him, Nora dragged her former leader towards the Knight's quarters, Ren and Pyrrha following behind her.

"Hey, Darmus! We got a question for you!"

"Yes, Lass?"

"Do you know the rules of a Mak'Rogahn?"

"Sounds Orcish."

"That's a no?"

"That's a no. Luckily, I know someone who might. Unlucky, they're on Acherus."

"Oh."

"Why do you need to know?"

"Jaune has to have one at the end of the month."

"He does?"

"Yeah, and if he loses, they'll ban him from every Academy!"

"Then we don't have time ta waste," a hint of an accent leaked through.

"What do you mean?"

"We better hope that Thalanor hasn't left yet."

Nora couldn't keep the smile off her face as he walked off, following him.

"Thalanor! Thank the Light you haven't left yet!"

The man turned, his gaunt face pulled in a frown, a briefcase held in his hands.

"Knight-Champion, what do you need?"

"I was hoping you could give us a ride to the Ebon Hold."

"I can do that, get in."

They settled into the back, and waited for him to lift off.

"What were you doing here? The regular resupply isn't for another two days."

"The Highlord needed some fire Dust, for her project."

"It couldn't wait?"

"She isn't making much progress, apparently she thinks that this will help in some way," The man spoke in a clipped tone.

"Then why not use a Death Gate?"

"We don't know how Dust interacts with one, haven't had any reason to try."

…

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about Mak'Rogahn would you?"

"I never left the Ebon Hold, some of us had to take care of it while you all were out gallivanting."

"Right."

The rest of the way over was spent in an uncomfortable silence. By the end of it, Nora was wiggling in her seat.

"So who are we going to see?"

"Velann, if she doesn't know, she probably knows someone who does."

"Ok!"

The Bullhead landed on one of the balconies around Acherus, before opening.

"Do you mind bringing this to the Highlord? I'd prefer to stay near by."

"Of course not, hand it over."

Nora followed the man through the winding halls of the pyramid. Finally they stopped at a door. Darmus rapped on it, calling out.

"We got your Dust."

The door cracked open, and a hand reached out, clad in gloves, with splotches of a green liquid staining them. Darmus handed over the case, and the hand retreated, before the door slammed shut.

"Right, let's go."

They waked for another few minutes, before coming up to an open area.

Skull shaped forges lined the walls, and the sound of ringing hammers echoed. Ingots of metals were neatly stacked near each pavilion, and several people were working at them.

They walked to the back, just before a curtain, where Velann was hammering away at a red piece of metal, shaping it into a blade. She spoke as they approached.

"What do you need?"

"What do you know about Mak'Rogahn?"

"Duel of will. Why?"

"Jaune has to participate in one. Do you know the rules?"

"No."

"I do."

They turned, to where a pair was standing behind them.

Both of them stood a good head taller than Pyrrha, one had skin so pale that it put Ruby to shame, and others was a deep green.

Velann stood up, walking to the back of her area.

"About time you got here, it's been ready for a week."

She turned, a sword that seemed to glimmer in hand, "Try to take care of it, Leysteel isn't easy to get our hands on."

She handed to blade to the woman, who ran her hand along the blade.

"Thanks."

Velann nodded before placing the metal she had been working into the forge.

"You said you knew the rules?"

"Yes."

Ren spoke out, "What is allowed, weapons wise?"

"Poison isn't allowed, but enchantments and runes are. Traditionally, the only way to lose a Mak'Rogahn is to surrender."

They all shared a look.

"You don't think-"

"Maybe, but we shouldn't risk it. We need to figure out how to make sure Jaune can win."

"Let's see his weapon."

"I don't have one."

"Then how do you plan to train?"

"We need to get him a weapon."

"What type of weapon do you use, and how much experience do you have with it?"

"It's an- uh"

"Arming sword."

"Yeah, I've been training with it for the past few months."

They all stared at him.

"You're dead, Lad."

"Maybe not."

Velann looked at the green man.

"You said runes are allowed?"

"Yes."

"Then I have an idea."

"We're not giving him a Runeblade."

"I'm not saying we give him a Runeblade, but a _runed blade_."

Darmus looked at her, "Even if we do, he doesn't have much skill."

"I could help with that."

"Thank you- uh-"

"Lam'Guld."

"Right, I'll get working on the weapon."

"Arming sword?"

"No, Zweihander. If he doesn't have the skill, we'll give him a massive weapon. We'll train him enough that he can smash through their guard. It also gives you more room to inscribe."

She picked up several bars of blackened metal.

"Grab one from the armory and start training him with that, I'll make one for him."

Lam'Guld nodded, before leading Jaune away.

-X LINE BREAK X-

"We lost the Molten Shore!"

"Fel Reaver on the left side!"

"S'theno and the Coilscar aren't responding!"

"Vandel, what are your orders?"

"Jace! Do we have enough energy for a jump?"

"I think so!"

"Start preparing for one! I need to address the rest."

Walking onto the deck of the Fel Hammer, Vandel took his place at the head.

"Illidari! Mardum is lost, we must retreat. Jace is preparing the Fel Hammer for a dimensional leap. Anyone close enough, fall back, those who can't… your sacrifice will be remembered."

An explosion rocked the ship, and something grew in the distance.

"ILLIDARI! DID YOU THINK YOU HAD BEEN WINNING!?"

"Ignore him!"

"I WARNED YOU! YOU SHOULD HAVE GIVEN IN, BUT LIKE YOUR FOOL OF A MASTER, YOU REFUSED TO BOW!"

"Where do we jump to, Azeroth is cut off!"

"NOW YOU SHALL DIE, LIKE HIM!"

Vandel tensed, did- did Kil'jaeden just say that Illidan was-

"It doesn't matter! Just jump!" Altruis stepped in, taking command.

"CORDANA, CYANA! BRING ME THEIR BONES!"

"Incoming!"

"Jace!?"

"We're ready! I found an untouched world!"

"Are we sure it isn't a trap?"

"We don't have a choice! Go!"

The Fel Hammer shook as two balls of felfire landed.

"Jump in five!"

"We don't have five seconds! They're here!"

"Hello Vandel."

The Slayer tightened his grip on the Aldrachi Warblades.

"Traitor."

"We're jumping!"

The ship started to move, as a portal opened.

Vandel rushed forward with Altruis and Belath, intent to throw the two off the Fel Hammer.

The blades smashed into each other as the Fel Hammer went into the portal.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Braun Schnee sat at his desk, waiting for a call. He had been waiting for this call since the news came four days ago. If his hair hadn't been grey, he was sure it would have turned from the stress.

He drummed his fingers on the desk. James had assured him she was alive, but he was still worried.

"Mr. Schnee, you have a call, it's General Ironwood and your daughter."

"Put them through."

The screen across from him lit up, showing the image of his heir and backer.

"Father."

"Weiss."

"You wished to speak to me?"

"Yes. You were involved with the Grimm attack?"

"Yes. I helped clear out the city with my team."

Braun kept his face impassive, even as irritation ran through him, "But it isn't 'your team' is it?"

"What do you mean, Father?"

"You are not the head of the team. According to the reports I got, the team you are one is lead by one Ruby Rose."

"Yes."

"Would you like to explain to me, why a sixteen year old girl was placed in charge instead of you?"

"Professor Ozpin choose-"

"Then Ozpin is a fool."

"Braun." the sharp rebuke came from James.

"More so, she allowed you to endanger yourself."

"What?"

"You should not have been allowed to leave Beacon. This is why I wanted you at Atlas, they would not have endangered my heir."

"I wasn't 'endangered' I was helping people."

"And you could have died."

Weiss went silent, her face impassive.

"Is this why you wanted to speak to me, Father? To reprimand me for helping people? For helping beat back humanity's greatest enemy?"

"In part. We are also here to discuss your transfer to Atlas."

"My what?"

"Braun." The warning came again, harsher.

"Winter is coming to Beacon. You shall be returning to Atlas with her."

"You want me to give up everything I've spent the last six months working towards? My classes, my friends?"

"You don't need friends, you are a Schnee, and more importantly, my heir."

Weiss closed her eyes, before rubbing the scar she got from his test.

"No."

"What?"

"No. I will not be returning to Atlas."

"You do not have a choice."

"Braun," James's voice was steel, but Braun ignored him, staring at his daughter.

"I am not your puppet. I will not be returning to Atlas."

"You are my heir, you ungrateful-"

"I'm not something you can control! I'm my own person!"

"You are a member of the Schnee family and you will-"

"Braun!" The bark split the air, enraging him further.

"Shut _up_ , James! And you, you will be returning to Atlas if I have to go there myself!"

"Then come and get me, _Braun_!"

"I am your father! You will not-"

"What kind of father sets a Grimm on their child because they won't follow orders!?"

"What!? Braun-"

"Mind your own damn business, James!"

"If you brought a Grimm into Atlas territory without permission that is the very definition of 'my damn business" especially if you set it loose!"

"He set it loose! That's where this scar is from!"

"Be silent!"

"We were told that you got it from a White Fang attack! We arrested the ones responsible!"

"No, you arrested Faunus desperate enough for money for their families that they were willing to lie about being members of the White Fang!"

"Shut up, you insolent little-"

"Miss Schnee, if you would be so kind as to leave, I need to speak with your father in private."

Weiss rose and started to walk towards the door.

"If you walk through that door, there no going back! I'll disown you! I'll make sure no one will sell Dust to you or any of your 'friends'! I'll see that organization your friend runs driven into the ground!"

Weiss stopped, hand on the doorknob, before lowering her hand. Good she wasn't going to-

She took off her bolero, holding it in her hands, before dropping it. She met his eye, before raising her foot, and, very purposefully drove her heel into the Schnee emblem.

"What was it you always said to me and Winter? Don't make empty threats, it only makes you look weaker than you already are." She looked at James, "I'm willing to testify, when the time comes."

She pulled the door open, and started to walk out, "Goodbye, Braun. I'll see you in court."

The last thing he saw of his daughter was her pulling out her scroll, before the door slammed shut.

"She has you made."

"What's that supposed to mean." Braun growled out, all composure lost.

"Don't play dumb Braun, it doesn't suit you. First, We both know that ever since you started using Faunus for cheap labor, the White Fang has been gunning for your head."

"So?"

"Nobody wants the job. You need one of your daughters to take over, and there is no way Winter would take it. She realized what you were years ago."

"I don't care what the damn animals think and Winter abandoned the family for them."

"Winter left to work for the Atlas military."

"The point is that she left, James. A Schnee should only care about the Schnee."

"Which leads to the second point, there are a lot of people who would love to see you out of the job. You stepped on a lot of toes in your rise to power. They would be more than willing to back Weiss. She more like her grandfather than you."

"My father was a fool! And I can still see these 'Knights of the Ebon Blade' ruined!"

"Braun, the Ebon Blade are heroes in Vale. Everyone's tripping over themselves to praise them. You'd be hard pressed to ruin them."

"I have the backing of the Atlas military!"

James didn't meet his eye.

"James?"

"If legal action is taken, the Atlas military will stand behind Weiss, if it got out that we knew that you had brought a Grimm into Atlas territory, it would reflect badly on us. I'm sorry, Braun."

"James!"

"Goodbye, Braun."

The general hung up.

Braun sank back into his chair, before pulling up a number.

"I need you to find everything you can on Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long."

"Yes, Sir."

"And, if you get the chance, eliminate them."

"Yes, Sir."

Braun had never taken losing well, if Weiss was going to ruin him, he would drag her friend down with him.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Nobundo forced himself onward, even as his body, which had never quite recovered from the damage it sustained in the defense of Shattrath, groaned in protest.

"Nobundo, do you want to take a break?"

"No, it's fine."

It had been decided that three members of the expedition that Ruby knew would go attempt to mend bridges before they were too badly damaged.

That was why Khadgar, Kalecgos and him were walking through the city of Vale, looking for a way to Beacon.

Nobundo, however, had another reason to come.

Ever since his vision the tower, the two girls, and a third with white hair, had been a frequent visitor in his dreams.

It was rare for the elements to be so insistent. They prefered to give a nudge in the right direction. The only time he could remember them acted like this was when they pushed him to the Maelstrom.

Nobundo looked around, frowning into the scarf he was made to wear, there were no Broken among the Ebon Blade ranks, and they couldn't be certain how people would react.

It didn't bother the Farseer, he had been banished from his people, and even after his return there had been a disconnect between them. When he had lost his connection to the Light, he had lost something with the Draenei. Him bringing Shamanism, an 'Orcish practice' with him had only driven the wedge further between them.

"Excuse me, me and my friends here are from out of town, and are trying to find out how to get to Beacon. One of our friends goes there."

"You all seem a bit old to have a friend who goes to Beacon."

It was a valid observation, with his tentacles and feet hidden, Nobundo looked like an extremely arthritic human, due to Medivh's curse Khadgar looked to be in his sixties, despite being in his mid forties, and even Kalecgos's preferred form looked to be in his early thirties. None of them looked like they should be friends with someone at Beacon, from what Ruby spoke of it.

"It's a long story, but I would trust her with my life."

Nobundo didn't doubt it, even as Ruby tried to burn every bridge possible, she had always made time for the Archmage. Or rather, the Archmage made time for her. Khadgar had gone out of his way to check on her.

The Archmage and Highlord were an odd pair, Ruby always seemed to be happy to listen to him unleash another storm of terrible puns. Khadgar, in turn, was thrilled to hear Ruby ramble on about Remnant. They both had lived a good portion of their lives on worlds not their own, and they found common ground on it.

"What's your friend's name? And why isn't she here to pick you up?"

"Ruby Rose, and we are actually trying to surprise her."

"Really."

Nobundo leaned over, allowing him to see the who Khadgar was talking to.

A short bob of hair was hidden under a beret, and her eyes behind dark glasses. Her clothing was obviously well made.

"So, what are your names?"

"I'm Khadgar, and this is Kalecgos and Nobundo."

"Coco."

She looked over at Nobundo.

"What's up with your friend?"

"He always wears clothes like that, don't worry."

"Right. I'll bring you to Beacon, but you have to help me."

"How?"

"Yats! Get over here!"

A massive bear of a man walked towards them, laden with bags.

"You can help Yats carry those."

-X LINE BREAK X-

"Tell me do you know what mancy mean?"

"Hmhmhm"

"It means 'divination.' So Necromancy means divination by communing with the dead."

Ruby reached up and pulled the gag from his mouth.

"Please… I'll… Tell… You… Anything…!

"Too late. You haven't spoken before now, we can't be sure you'll tell the truth."

"Please…"

"Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is so you know why you're on a pyre. Pyromancy."

Ruby finished drawing the runes around him. She hadn't wanted to resort to this, the ingredients were rare on Azeroth, they would be damn-near impossible to find on Remnant.

"Sorry."

Then she set off the solution, the flames leaping from rune to rune until it reached the sacrifice.

 **A man, clutching something in hand.**

 **A hammer, smashing through bone.**

 **The man raised his hand, before opening it, a fragment of metal falling from his hand.**

 **It was caught by a girl, who winked, before disappearing in a swirl of sand.**

Ruby staggered back, and if her blood wasn't frozen in her veins, it would have rushed from her face.

"No, no, no."

Ruby tore the door open, rushing down the halls of Acherus.

"It can't be, he can't be back."

She entered the room, grabbing Crescent Rose she shattered the mound of ice.

The chest piece of the Plate of the Damned had barely been freed before her hands grabbed it, ignoring the ice that bit into them, and she shook it.

"Be there, be there."

The fragment of Frostmourne hit the ground with a dull clang.

Ruby dropped the plate collapsing backwards as she breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank Light, Dust, whatever was looking out for them.

Ruby pulled out her ringing scroll, "Hey."

-X LINE BREAK X-

Weiss brought her scroll to her ear, hearing it ring.

One.

Two.

Thre-

"Hey."

"Hello."

"Whatcha need?"

Weiss frowned, Ruby sounded exhausted.

"Do you want me to call back later?"

"No, it's fine."

Weiss heard the noise of a heavy door open and close, before Ruby spoke out again.

"So, what do you need?"

"Do you think your parents would be willing to let me stay with you when vacation comes?"

"Yeah, probably. Why?"

"I can't go back to Atlas."

"Why? Did your home blow up in a Dust explosion?"

"No."

"Then why?"

"I- I just had a fight with my father."

"Is that a good thing or a bad?"

"It's- It's good."

"You sure? Cause you sound like you're crying."

Weiss raised her hand, feeling the wetness on her cheeks.

"It's just- do you know what it's like to take control of your life back?"

"Weiss, I want you to think who's on the other side of this call, and then see if you can't answer that question on your own."

"Oh, Dust, Ruby, I'm sorry-"

"It's fine. Listen, I haven't spent much time with you, do you want to hang out for a bit?"

"Sure."

"Ok, I'll meet you in Vale in half an hour, I need to change."

-X LINE BREAK X-

Khadgar could feel his companions glares drill into his head. How was he supposed to know that there would be so many bags! How much clothing did one girl need?

It had fallen on Kalec to carry most of it, Nobundo could only free up one hand, and Khadgar was not above abusing his apparent age to get to avoid carrying that much.

"So, how do you know Ruby?"

"We used to work together."

"To fight all the scary threats beyond the Kingdoms?"

Khadgar smiled, "Something like that, yes." He answered the question seriously, despite the obvious sarcasm.

"What's it like out there?"

"Difficult, every day was a struggle to survive." Khadgar responded, projecting his time in Outland.

"Hmm."

He watched as a pair of boys ran by, scribbles drawn on their toy swords.

"I'm the Knight this time!"

"No way, I'm the one who met one before!"

"Ruby must be thrilled that the Knights are getting the respect she wanted them to."

"Or terrified that people want to be like them," Kalec joked.

When they finally arrived at the tower, Nobundo let out a gasp behind him, and Khadgar turned, the Farseer shook his head, eyes trailing on a white haired girl.

Another man stepped out, his white hair was messy.

"Are these our guests, Miss Adel?"

"Yes."

"Would you three be so kind as to follow me?"

Khadgar passed off the few bags he was holding, before taking Atiesh off his back.

Following the man down the halls, until they reached an elevator, they sat in silence.

When the door opened, there were a collection of people there. Seating himself at a chair, the grey haired man smiled grimly.

"It is a pleasure to meet someone else from Azeroth. Please, tell us more about this 'Burning Legion'."

-X LINE BREAK X-

" _ **Stormrage."**_

 _Illidan turned to see Ruby, a smirk on his face._

" _Rose."_

" _ **Stay away from Ruby."**_

 _The smirk crumpled, "You're Ruby."_

" _ **Cute. Stay away from her, she's mine."**_

" _Arthas."_

" _ **Yes."**_

 _Illidan looked at her again. She wasn't breathing, nor was she blinking. If he hadn't heard her speak, she would be indistinguishable from a statue._

" _What do you want?"_

" _ **Stay away from Ruby, she's mine."**_

" _Or what? I doubt you would come all the way out here."_

" _ **You're right, but I can always have the Scourge pay a visit to that Priestess you like so much. What is her name? Tyrande?"**_

 _Illidan snarled out his response, "If you touch a hair on her head-"_

" _ **I haven't done anything. Yet. Here's the deal, you stay away from Ruby, and I'll stay away from Tyrande."**_

" _You don't need to worry about that. I called her here to say goodbye."_

" _ **Goodbye?"**_

" _My Illidari are going to grab the last part of my plan tonight. Then we shall leave for Argus."_

" _ **Very well."**_

 _Ruby blinked, before looking around the area._

" _Illidan? What's going on? The last thing I remember is getting your message."_

" _Don't worry. I just wanted to say goodbye."_

" _So this is it? You're going off?"_

" _Yes."_

 _Ruby nodded, before smiling at him. It wasn't like her normal smiles, wane and with a hint of self-loathing. It was a bright smile._

" _Goodbye Illidan Stormrage, it was a pleasure knowing you."_

" _I never did manage to kill you like you asked."_

" _You can't get everything you want I guess."_

" _Goodbye, Ruby Rose," Illidan spread his wings, flying towards Karabor._

 _Landing at the summit, he looked over his Illidari, Vandel wasn't there, he would be leading the defence._

" _Illidari. My demon hunters. With countless burning in the Legion's wake, you answered the call."_

 _He took flight again, looking down at the amassed forces of Shattrath._

" _Yet these mortals, in their... ignorance... have come to destroy their own salvation."_

 _Illidan turned to his forces, they were prepared, even if he died here they would carry on his goal._

 _Not that he would die here, unless the Naaru had started working with demons. The vision he saw told him otherwise._

" _Our time is short. I will deal with these intruders. You must venture to Mardum and retrieve the Sargerite Keystone."_

 _Using the amassed souls, Illidan opened the portal to Mardum._

" _Now go. But remember, should you fail, all worlds will burn."_

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Darion walked through the Scarlet Monastery, the weight of his father's sword on his back as he made his way to where his brother was._

 _"Scarlet... Crusade ... is pure... no longer."_

 _If there was anyone who knew how to free their father from Ashbringer it would be Renault._

 _Finally he stopped before his brother, Sally Whitemane stood beside him,and they looked down at him._

" _Bow down! Kneel before the Ashbringer! A new dawn approaches, brothers and sisters! Our message will be delivered to the filth of this world through the chosen one!"_

 _Renault walked to Darion, pulling him into a hug._

" _It is good to see you brother, welcome to the Crusade. You hold our father's sword, Darion. My soldiers are your to comand Take them... Lead them... The impure must be purged. They must be cleansed of their taint."_

" _Renault…"_

 _Darion felt the weight of Ashbringer leave him and turned to see his father's spirit standing there, the blade in hand._

" _Father... But... How?" Renault breathed out._

 _Alexandros swung his blade, an arc of light sweeping through the hall in its wake, burning the kneeling Scarlet Crusaders to ash._

 _Turning to Renault, he walked forward._

" _Did you think that your betrayal would be forgotten? Lost in the carefully planned cover up of my death? Blood of my blood, the blade felt your cruelty long after my heart had stopped beating. And in death, I knew what you had done. But now, the chains of Kel'Thuzad hold me no more. I come to serve justice. I AM ASHBRINGER."_

 _Renault fell to his knees as Sally retreated, "Forgive me, father! Please…"_

 _The Light burned Darion's brother to ash, and as his father faded away, Darion caught his last words, before the clatter of Ashbringer hitting the floor echoed._

" _You are forgiven.."_

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Vandel staggered along, the spot where Maiev had struck him in the head pounding._

 _ **You must be prepared.**_

 _Lord Illidan had an immortal demon soul, so long as he didn't die in the Twisted Nether he could come back._

 _Vandel would be ready when he did._

" _Altruis. Got to find Altruis."_

 _The renegade Demon Hunter would help._

 _Vandel collapsed, gasping for air. And he heard the sound of boots crushing gravel._

" _We got ya, Lad. Just rest."_

 _What was Darmus doing here._

" _You can find Altruis when you're better. Sleep for now."_

 _Sleep. Sleep sounded good._

 _Vandel closed his eyes, dreaming of his home in Ashenvale, and playing with Khariel. He would be so excited to tell all the other kids what his father could do._

 _It was a good dream._


	15. Chapter 15

Weiss looked around the dock, how could she have forgotten to ask Ruby where they were supposed to meet!

Weiss reached for her scroll, praying Ruby had remembered to take hers with her, when a voice whispered in her ear.

"Who're you looking for?"

Myrtenaster had cleared its sheath and was halfway to its target when Weiss realized she was trying to skewer her partner.

Ruby caught Myrtenaster lazily, her left hand rising with unnatural speed, petals trailing behind it, before she wrapped it around the blade. Weiss staggered as her blade suddenly stopped all momentum, letting go of the hilt.

Ruby flipped the blade, catching the hilt in her right hand.

"Any particular reason you just tried to turn me into a shishkabob, Weiss?"

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry."

Ruby handed the rapier over to Weiss, who sheathed it at her side.

"How did you know where I was?"

Ruby raised her hand, holding her scroll between two fingers.

"These have trackers in them, remember?"

"You forget to bring that with you half the time."

"I didn't have it for twenty years, sue me."

Weiss took in Ruby, who was wearing a pair of pants and a tail coat. Leather gloves covered her hands, explaining why she hadn't cut herself. It reminded Weiss of what Ruby's uncle wore.

"What's with the change of clothes?"

Ruby shrugged, "I haven't really worn this since I got back, and trust me, while I _like_ not having to cover my entire body anymore, I spent good money on these."

"Ok."

Weiss walked alongside her friend, "So where are we going?"

"Dunno, you choose."

Weiss blushed lightly as her stomach grumbled, she had been too worried before her meeting with her father to eat.

"Why don't we get something to eat? I know a place nearby."

"Sure, lead the way."

Weiss watched her friend as they walked along.

"You don't have a weapon with you?"

Weiss couldn't remember a time Ruby had gone out without a weapon since she came back.

"Got a knife hidden on me."

Of course she did.

Settling down at the table, Weiss couldn't help but notice how out of place Ruby looked. When she went to crack her neck, what little of the tattoos across her body that weren't covered by her new outfit were visible.

"So… how's everyone doing?"

"Blake's angry at you."

Ruby grunted, tapping her fingers on the table.

"Did you, uh, get anything from him?"

"No."

Oh.

"So, um-"

"Weiss, small talk is hard enough when you're not trying to use cold blooded torture as the topic."

Weiss huffed, searching for anything else.

"So, 'mama'?"

Ruby snorted, a grin threatening to split her face.

"Don't remind me."

"How'd that one happen?"

"I'm still not sure myself. She just started following me around one day, said she didn't know who her mother was and that I smelled like a dragon…"

Ruby trailed off, her eyes widening.

"Ruby?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll tell you all later."

"So she thought you were her mother?"

"Something like that, I didn't have the heart to turn her away."

The waitress came, taking their orders.

"Speaking of parents, what happened with your dad?"

"I had an argument with him."

Weiss watched as Ruby shifted, looking uncomfortable.

"Do, uh, do you want to talk about it?"

"It's a long story."

"Weiss, that's _my_ excuse for not talking about my problems."

"I'm not allowed to say I don't want to talk about it?"

"You are. I'm just saying, don't use my excuse."

…

"He wanted me to leave Beacon."

"So you do want to talk about it!"

Weiss scowled, looking at her friend, who was tittering madly.

"Ruby, are you alright?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"You seem a lot more cheerful than normal."

That wasn't quite right. Ruby seemed almost… _intoxicated_.

The perpetual pallor and cracked lips that had characterized Ruby had faded almost completely.

"I'm fine! So, your dad wanted you to leave Beacon. I'm guessing you told him no?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I realized if he was in my life, I would never be in control."

"I know exactly what you mean."

"How?"

Ruby turned her head to the side, refusing to meet her eye.

Maybe it was because she was talking about her father and she was imprinting that onto the situation, but Weiss said said the first name that came to mind, instead of what she would later admit was the more logical answer.

"Uther-"

Weiss trailed off as Ruby's head snapped back to her. As Weiss stared into the wide eyes of her friend, she understood why Ruby kept them half lidded. The glassy stare seemed to burn into her skull.

"Weiss, _never_ imply something like that about Uther again."

"Of course, sorry."

Ruby nodded, before leaning on her arm.

"Anything else you want to talk about?"

"He threatened to make life hard for you and the Ebon Blade."

"Weiss, that's normal. We're all big boys and girls, we can deal with it."

"You're not taking this seriously, my father has a lot of sway."

"Weiss, I'm used to the game of politics. I don't like it, but I'm used to playing it."

"Sometime, you're going to tell me exactly what happened while you were on Azeroth."

"If you want to take your mind off the doom and gloom, I'll talk about it now."

"Really? You don't seem to like talking about it much."

"Let's just say I'm feeling 'more cheerful than normal'. What do you say, want to take your mind off your father for a bit?"

Weiss felt her lips tug, "Sure."

"Right then. How about I tell you about the time me, Liam and Tess hunted a headless horseman?"

"Looking for a dead body?"

"No. He was undead, wasn't one of ours, though."

"Ok, I want to hear this story."

-X LINE BREAK X-

Neo covered her mouth, blocking the whirling sand.

Where was she?

 **Time.**

Well that was helpful.

The sandstorm receded, color bleeding into the sand near her.

 **Watch carefully Neo. All that matters is this moment.**

A statue formed from the sand, and further along a giant pillar rose into the sky. Above it hung the moon.

From the edge of the sandstorm stepped a girl. In the first second she was a bulge, in the second a sand colored mockery, and in the third color flooded her.

The tips of her hair were red, the locks darkening as they went along. She wore a black blouse, skirt and bodice, a familiar red cloak worn over it, cross shaped clasps keeping it in place.

She ran forward, passing the statue before stopping, looking around.

" _Where'd she go?"_

A chuck of sand landed behind her, before parts of it were blown away.

 _You'll forgive the theatrics, I hope. I'm recreating this event and I can't cause them to appear from nothing._

The sand finished basting away. The woman had an unattainable beauty. Silver hair, silver eyes, silver robes, even her skin was silver, defying all logic. All looking like they had trapped Moonlight in human form.

" **Not Human."**

 _ **Hello, Ruby.**_ The woman spoke without opening her mouth.

The girl, Ruby, whipped around, staring at the woman.

A long moment passed, and neither spoke. The sand forming the ends of glossimer robes of the woman wore and the cloak the girl wore simulated a breeze, leaving them billowing.

" _Pretty."_

The word came from the girl, and she didn't even seem to notice she said it.

The woman raised her hand, to her mouth, and laughter like a wind chime came, despite her mouth still not opening.

 _ **It has been a very, very long time since someone reacted like that.**_

Ruby shook her head, like she was trying to clear her head.

" _Uh, Who are you?"_

 _ **My name is Elune. And I need your help.**_

" _Oh, I can get Professor Ozpin for you!"_

Ruby turned, only to stop. Neo wasn't sure how this actually played out, if this really was the past, but to her it looked like the sand making up Elune broke up and rushed past her, before reforming.

 _ **Not Ozpin. You.**_

" _What, but,"_ Ruby looked behind her, " _You were just…"_

 _ **Don't worry about that. I need your help Ruby. We need your help.**_

" _With what?"_

 _ **Saving a great many people.**_

" _Then wouldn't it be better to ask Professor Ozpin for help?"_

 _ **No. It has to be you.**_

Ruby shifted, biting her lip.

" _People will get hurt if I don't help?"_

 _ **More than you could imagine.**_

Ruby seemed to think, before nodding sharply.

" _Alright, I'll help."_

Elune smiled, and, like everything else about her, it was perfect.

 _ **Thank you, please take this gift.**_

Elune reached out, the tips of her fingers, releasing bolts of light that struck Ruby's eyes, which started to glow.

Ruby's eyes widened, before she collapsed to her knees, burrowing her eyes into her hands.

" _It… It burns!"_

Ruby raised her head looking around.

" _I… I can't see! What did you do to me!"_

Elune reached down, resting her hand on Ruby's back, before they both exploded into sand.

 **And that, is how all this started. The girl doesn't even remember she volunteered.**

"What was the point of showing me this?"

The voice that came out was rough, broken from years of disuse. A mockery took shape, one Neo recognized. An old partner long since dead.

 **Because, 'All that matters is this moment', Because this moment, is every moment.**

Around them the sand shifted, again and again. Men and women clashed, and Grimm prowled the outside of the battle, ready to pick off the survivors. Faunus, huddled in ramshackle huts, disease ravaging the already starving population. Four beings, given to four girls, while an old man looked on.

-X LINE BREAK-

Glynda resisted the urge to burrow her face in her hands.

An army that could only be defeated on their own territory? How did you beat something like that? It would take an invasion, one that Remnant just didn't have the forces to survive.

Ozpin took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Is there anything good you can tell us?"

The grey haired man across from them nodded, "They don't know that you exist, and even if they find out, you have the support of one of the only worlds to succeed in defying them."

"You would help us? You don't know anything about us."

"I know that the idea of being able to get back to Remnant kept Ruby Rose going when she was at her lowest. Anything that could keep her going like you did has to be worth something."

Glynda stepped in, frustration at all the events surrounding Ruby Rose finally breaking through.

"You would trust one girl on this?"

The man's blue eyes shifted to her, an amused twinkle in them.

"If you think that she's just a girl, you haven't been paying attention."

"You put a lot of trust in her. I'd say even more than she does in herself."

"Ruby has a guilt complex a mile wide. She helped save Azeroth at least four times, but she will never admit to that. She is of the Iron Vanguard, she is one of the Last Defenders of Azeroth, she is the Kingslayer, the Nightmare's Bane, the-"

"I think they get the point, Khadgar."

Khadgar seemed to slump, the wind taken out of his sails.

"Do you not want our help? Because we can pack up and leave."

"Could you give us a few days to discuss this?"

"Of course."

"Glynda, could you be so kind as to show them to the guest rooms?"

"Of course."

The four of them stepped into the elevator, waiting.

Glynda pursed her lips, thinking.

"You said you know Ruby rather well?"

"Going on, oh, four, five years now? Kalec has known her for longer. Didn't she used to live with you and Jaina?"

"If you can call hiding in the basement for weeks on end 'living with'."

"She left?"

"Only when whatever she was using to keep the Endless Hunger at bay died. In her defense, she never liked to show weakness, and the damage she took on Theramore took a couple months to fully heal."

Khadgar recoiled, a wince on his face.

"Ah, yes. That would explain it. Anyway, you had a question I take it?"

Glynda filed away the name Theramore for later, before speaking.

"What happened to make her so violent?"

"It's in the nature of Death Knights. They were born to kill, their entire existence revolves around it. They don't need to eat, or drink, or sleep. All they need is death and destruction."

"And you trust them?"

"They direct their impulses at things that need to be destroyed, so yes."

They stopped at the doors to the rooms, and Glynda saw the three off, before heading back to the office for the inevitable meeting.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Khadgar leaned Atiesh against the wall glancing around the room.

Lamps, bed, Ruby, desk, chair-

Khadgar lept back with a yelp, and Atiesh jumped into his hand.

"How-"

"Illusions. I've been following you since you stepped out of the elevator."

Right. How could he have forgotten Ruby's love of mind magic.

"Shouldn't you be leading the Kirin Tor?"

"I managed to convince Rhonin to come out of retirement."

"How'd Vereesa take that?"

"Oh, you know, well enough," Khadgar coughed into his hand, "In unrelated news, she might want to kill us both."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Khadgar settled down, walking over to the chair.

"I take it you have questions."

"Just one at the moment."

"Ok, shoot."

"Why didn't any of you think to just _ask?_

"What?"

"I've spent years trying to repent what I did under Arthas, you know this. I would have done anything to pay the debt of blood I made, you _know_ this. So tell me, why is it that not a single one of you thought to ask when you KNOW I would have said yes? Why did you all go behind my back with this gambit?"

"I-"

"Was it because you didn't trust me?"

"NO!"

"Then why?"

Silence followed her, before Khadgar answered.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, 'You don't know'?"

"Azeroth didn't tell us why, only that we needed to."

Ruby sank down onto the bed, rubbing her head.

"It's times like this that I really, really, wish that my conscience was still suppressed."

Khadgar opened his mouth, only for a sharp bark to stop him.

"SHUT UP! I don't want to hear another word from you."

Ruby rammed the heel of her hand into her skull, growling.

"I said, shut up! Sylvanas, Nathanos, start talking, I don't want to hear a word she says… I don't care about what, just talk!"

"Ruby-"

"Do you want to know the part I'm really angry about? It isn't that you kept this a secret, there's plenty of people who can be mad at you for that."

Khadgar stay silent.

"It's the fact that you got one of my friends involved. They shouldn't be involved in this."

Ruby stood up, pacing.

"Uther, Liam, Krasus, Varian, Jaina, Thrall, Koltira, Illidan. Every single friend, everyone single loved one that I lost to the Legion and Void Lords. I don't want to add anyone else, and while I know I can't stop you from being involved, I could have kept Blake from getting tied up in this mess, but _then you had to get her involved!"_

Khadgar remained quiet, listening to the ragged gasps coming from his friend.

"I think we both know, that if you had truly wanted them to be unharmed by this conflict, you would have never come back here."

"I had thought that by coming here, I would finally be done!" Ruby turned to him, "I don't want to do this anymore, Khadgar. I'm _tired_. Tired of walking into a room of my friends and wonder which one of them won't be there the next time, of getting maimed every couple of months, of trying to retire and getting dragged back to the fighting. I was _happy_ in Gilneas, but the Red Dragonflight showed up and dragged me into the fight with Deathwing. I was happy exploring Pandaria, but the Alliance and Horde had to fight over it. I was happy on Draenor, but I had to go back to Azeroth to fight the Legion."

Ruby collapsed backwards onto the bed, shaking, "Did you know I tried to pass everything as happening on Remnant when we first got back?"

"I did."

"I hoped that if I just pretended that the last twenty years had never happened, I could just… _go back_. I lied to my sister, let her think that she hadn't noticed that I wasn't there, because I just wanted to be the little girl I was back then again."

"Ruby-"

"Make someone else be the Life Binder, I just want to be Ruby Rose."

Khadgar laid his hand on hers, "We'll find a way to deal with this. I'm not going anywhere, neither is Tirion, or anyone else."

"I-"

"It's going to be fine. We're going to deal with the Old Gods here, and then we can deal with everything else."

"I need a drink."

"You'll love this. Odyn's sending some troops once we get the portals up."

"Nooooo."

"I think he plans to send Radulf, he doesn't need you murdering his champion."

"Don't scare me like that!"

"I guess I caught you _off guard_."

Ruby cracked a smile.

"Did you think we were _barking_ mad?"

The chuckles started.

"That we were _biting_ off more than we could chew?"

"You're the worst."

Khadgar settled down at the desk, stretching.

"Do you know where we could get a map? I've heard so much about Remnant, I want to see what it looks like."

"Yeah, I can get one."

-X LINE BREAK X-

" _Lady Proudmoore!"_

" _Yes?"_

" _It's Lord Sunstrider! He's here!"_

 _Kael? Jaina lept to her feet, and knew Aegwynn had slipped behind her._

 _Sure enough, leaning on the wall of Theramore was Kael'thas, Al'ar roosting beside him, crooning softly as Kael ran a hand down his neck._

" _Kael!"_

" _Jaina?"_

" _What are you doing here?"_

" _I need your help."_

" _How?"_

" _I made a terrible mistake," Kael'thas seemed to spasm, obvious even under his cloak._

" _The Legion, they want to use the Blood Elves."_

" _You haven't-"_

" _Never, I refuse to be a puppet, like Ruby, like Arthas."_

" _Then why-"_

" _I can't fight it much longer. I need you to end this."_

" _Kael, I can't-"_

" _Please, Jaina. I refuse to serve the Legion, but I can't fight it much longer."_

" _And you won't have to, If she won't do it, I will." Aegwynn spoke up, looking down at the lord._

" _Thank you-?"_

" _Aegwynn."_

" _Ah, like the Magna."_

" _Something like that."_

 _Kael'thas nodded, before looking at the guard standing to the side._

" _Would you help me up? I would prefer to die standing."_

 _Al'ar made a noise, cocking his head as Kael'thas was helped up._

" _Well, old friend, this is goodbye."_

 _The Phoenix flapped his wings._

 _Aegwynn pulled out a stiletto, and stepped behind the Blood Elf. Kael handed an envelope to the guard. Jaina could see the bones in his hand, which shook like a leaf._

" _Make sure that gets to Regent Lord Lor'themar. It contains my last orders."_

" _Ready?"_

 _Kael'thas stood tall, looking at the setting sun._

" _Yes."_

" _Shorel'aran, Belore'dorei."_

 _Aegwynn stepped forward, and slit Kael's throat in one swift move._

 _Red spilled down his neck, tainted with flecks of green._

 _The Sun King stood for a brief second, before collapsing._

" _Bring his body in, and fetch us a shroud. Send a message to Orgrimmar."_

 _Al'ar took flight, a low mournful note coming from his throat. He circled his master's body once, before fading away._

 _Jaina stood there, watching as the body cooled, as the guards came with a shroud of red, and took it away._

 _By the time Aegwynn took her by the shoulders and guided her back though the city to the keep, the sun had long since set._

 _Settling down at her desk, Jaina stared at the flickering candle. Kael had always been proud of his skill with fire…_

 _The clatter of metal on wood broke her from her thoughts. Aegwynn poured out the cup of tea, before placing it in front of her. How long had she been sitting there?_

" _Why?" The accusation came out as a croak._

 _The former Guardian leveled a glare at her._

" _Don't speak to me like that. I should be asking why you didn't do it yourself."_

" _You killed him!"_

" _And in doing so, saved him from a fate worse than death. You saw it as well as I did, his very blood had been tainted with the Fel."_

" _The Orcs had Fel in their blood, they're fine."_

" _They didn't have so much that you could see it. He's lucky he didn't wait longer."_

" _Or what."_

" _Or he would have become one of them. Is that what you would like? For him to be a demon?"_

" _No! But there must have been something else we could have done!"_

" _I've fought demons since before that boy was born. Once someone gets this far along, there is nothing that can be done."_

 _Jaina grabbed a piece of parchment, and started to write._

" _Nonetheless, I'm afraid I can't keep you under my employ."_

" _Is that a dismissal?"_

" _It is."_

" _Know this, girl, there will be a day you will need me, and you will regret this decision."_

 _Jaina watched her go, before directing her eyes to the candle again._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

" _Archers! Nock! Shield bearers! Lock ranks!"_

 _Velann looked across down the hill, where countless undead marched forward._

 _Her father, skin blackening, flashed across her mind._

" _Frost mages, freeze them in their tracks! Archers! Draw!"_

 _Velann drew upon the Arcane, releasing it in a wave of frost. Hundreds of others followed with it._

 _Some of the undead couldn't handle the snap freeze, shattering. Other, attempted to continue onward._

" _Fire mages! Light the poor bastards up! Archers! Loose!"_

 _All down the line, the order was repeated, and a storm of fire and arrows rained down upon the front lines of the undead._

 _It didn't matter, for each that died another six took it's place._

" _Again!"_

 _The tide smashed into the wall of shields. Each time one of their fell, another brother stepped in to take their place, each time one of the dead fell, they were trampled over in the fervent rush for blood._

 _Velann wasn't sure what happened, everything was happening too fast, but the order from Highlord Tyrosus came._

" _BREAK RANKS!"_

 _Velann watched from her vantage point as the Argent Dawn struck._

 _Tyrosus stuck with his hammer, leading the Paladins in the charge. The Shamen pooled their strength to bring down an actual storm._

 _And then there was Mograine's son. Swinging the sword of this father, everything that crossed into its path turned to ash._

 _Then, from the side, a single man crashed into the undead. Golden armor, with glowing pauldrons. Velann felt her heart soar as she saw the last surviving founding Paladin._

 _Then, a group of paladins collapsed._

" _Let the heralds of the damned proclaim our victory, for Kel'thuzad stands before you now!"_

 _Velann felt her blood freeze as the Scourge's reinforcements came, led by the lord of Naxxramas._

 _Something snagged her by the back and she was lifted into the air, struggling, Velann looked at the gargoyle._

 _Grabbing it by the leg, Velann let the ice crawl up it, before driving her sword into it._

 _Crashing into the ground, she closed her eyes as the wave of undead grabbed her._

 _When she opened them, a face that had haunted her nightmare's loomed over her._

" _Hello! What's your name?"_

" _Velann."_

" _Well then, welcome to the family! Come on, stand up, let's get you a weapon."_

" _Don't get too attached yet, Ruby, she might not survive training."_

" _I don't know, I think this one is special."_

" _You have said that about literally every other one we've seen."_

" _Call me an optimist. Someone around here needs to be."_

 _The woman grabbing Velann by the hand and helped her up._

 _Velann finally got a look at the man who had been speaking. It was a face that she had never seen in person but caused nothing but dread in the hearts of millions._

 _Arthas Menethil._

 _The other woman started to walk away, twirling a knife in hand._

" _That's mine."_

" _Hmm?"_

" _That knife, you took it from my father."_

 _The eyes flickered down at the knife, before locking back onto Velann. Purposefully, the knife was slid into the sheath._

" _I'll tell you what, complete training, and I'll give you this knife back. Ok?"_

 _Velann nodded._

" _Good, now, let's get you a sword."_

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_


	16. Chapter 16

Blake walked further into the Dreaming. Or at least she thought she was. She had been walking the fields for days, or had it been weeks, or minutes? However it didn't seem to be making any progress. Watching from the distance were many animals. A great stag, that stood level with lowest branches of the trees. A snake, big enough to crush her whole, hung from one. A great falcon soared above, the beating of its wings so great that the grass flattened. Blake got the distinct feeling that they were all watching her.

Locking her eyes on her goal, one of the many massive trees that grew around the Dream. This one drew her attention because the corruption that was crawling up it.

"Why can't I get there!?"

"A better question, is why you wish to go there."

Turning, Blake stared up at a giant wolf.

"A mortal," the Wolf bared its teeth, "What is a mortal, of all things, doing in the blueprint of creation?"

Blake took a step back, as the Wolf took a step forward. Breathing in through her nose deeply, the Wolf started to speak.

"It has been so long since I tas-" The Wolf breathed in again, "Tell me, how is it that you, _mortal_ , smells of the Forgers?"

"W-What?"

"The Forgers, girl. Those who came so long ago? Those who promised to help us, and then abandoned us, leaving us to watch our children be corrupted? It may have been many millennia, but I still remember Eonar's scent."

Blake searched her memories for the name, but couldn't find anything.

Thud-Thud.

"I don't know what you are talking about!"

Thud-Thud-Thud.

"Do you think me a fool? You smell of her, you speak their language."

Blake reached behind her shoulder, grasping for a sword that wasn't there.

Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud.

Maybe? She hadn't tried it since the breach. But it was the only trick she had up her sleeve.

Falling to all fours, Blake felt scales start to push their way out of her skin.

Thudthud-Thudthud.

Next came the- _CRACK!_

Blake gasped, rolling onto her side, as her arm snapped.

The scales receded, as the Wolf walked over her. Blake looked at her arm, and could see the bone, stained red, peeking out.

So _that's_ what it looks like when attempting to shape-shift backfired.

Thudthudthudthud.

"Even if you are telling the truth, this is a mercy. They," The Wolf flicked its snout in the direction of the tree, "wouldn't grant you a death. I've seen what they do, lost litter after litter to them."

The Wolf's fur was pushed down, the Falcon passing over head.

What would happen if she died in the Dream? Would she wake up in her bed at Beacon? Or was that the end?

"Please-"

The maw opened, and Blake could count the teeth. Wasn't this ironic? Saved from the fangs of a Grimm only to be eaten by something else-

The Wolf was lifted off its feet, and carried a ways off. The Stag cantered around, it's head bent to gore the Wolf on it's great antlers again.

As the Wolf stood, the Snake burst from the grass, digging fangs the size of Blake's forearm into the Wolf's throat.

The Falcon swooped down, grabbing her (and ignoring her cry of agony) before taking to the air again.

The Falcon spoke, "Hold on, this will be uncomfortable."

The Falcon dived again, but didn't stop as a lake approached.

Blake closed her eyes, bracing for the feeling of being submerged.

The feeling of impact, and the beating of the wings, but no water.

Opening her eyes, Blake looked around. She had never been here before, never needed to, and even if she had, she didn't know how to get there.

"The Dreamways?"

"Is that what you call it? I like it."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere that Luperca won't find you until Actaeon and Asclepius calm her."

Blake focused on the surrounding, not on the pain as her broken arm was jostled.

"What's your name?"

"Amenti. And yours?"

"Blake. Why was that wolf so angry?"

"Luperca has a long memory for things that have wronged her. She blames the Forgers for everything going wrong."

"Who _are_ the Forgers?"

Amenti landed, letting go of Blake.

"Your arm."

Blake looked at it, and called upon the healing spell she had learned.

The bone slid back into her arm with a sickening noise. She really didn't want to know what happened if she returned to the waking world with a broken limb.

"Come, we're almost there."

"What about-"

Blake turned to the way they came, only to see it blocked of by brambles.

"They won't find us. The Dream is always shifting. There's only one place it doesn't."

"You never answered my question."

"The Forgers. They were so large that the blotted out the sky. They built their great city, far to the north from where your body lies. From it marched a great army of stone."

Blake followed along as Amenti hopped forward.

"The Stone-born marched against _Their_ army. Came to us, and shattered our bonds so we could help. We pushed Their forces back, and shackled them beneath the earth."

"Them?"

"I… do not wish to speak their name, please, do not force me to."

"Ok. What happened after that?"

"Eonar made the Dream, a plan for things to come, and taught us to speak. But, another Forger came. Aggramar, they called him. He was injured, great rivers stained his body. They gathered, speaking in hushed whispers. Whatever they spoke of worried the Forgers. They said they would be back, and vanished, never to return. We're here."

Blake looked up at the swirling vortex of wind.

"Where are we?"

"This is where I spoke of before, the one place that never changes. Eonar created it, and sealed it away before they left. No one has gotten through since."

"So why did you bring me here!?"

"Because, whether you know it or not, every spirit can sense Eonar's power on you."

Blake breathed in, planning to ask the spirit, or Ruby, or whoever, if they knew anything about this.

"What do I do?"

"Try walking into it."

Blake stepped forward, and the wind seemed to bubble away from her, she took another, and it became a gateway, she took a third, and it closed.

Hoping they were telling the true, and the Wolf wouldn't be waiting for her, Blake woke up.

-X LINE BREAK X-

"You're all here, good."

Pitwick rolled his eyes. Of course they were here.

"Darmus, Scroll." it wasn't a question.

"Dead end, belonged to someone who died three years ago."

"Pitwick, Paladins."

"Still working on dismantling one without getting blown to pieces."

"That can wait. I want Acherus retrofitted for artillery, and I want it done as quickly as possible without cutting corners. We've put it off long enough."

"Why didn't we do that before now?" Thalanor questioned.

"We always had something supplying it for us." Came Darion's response.

"I miss Avernus," Darmus's sighed, "she always served us well. Until _someone_ decided to use it as a beachhead."

" _Continuing on_ ," came the hurried response from Ruby, "Darmus, I want eyes on Beacon at all times. I doubt whoever performed that attack on the CCT is done."

"Of course."

"Thalanor, I want patrols at all time, nothing is getting on or off Acherus without us knowing about it."

"By your orders."

"Darion, pick five Death Knights, take them, and don't leave a single stone unturned. I want to know all the major players in the underground, I want to know when eat, where they eat, what they eat, and the easiest poison to hide in their food."

"Malag, Croc, Munch, Stefan, and-"

"You'll forgive me for inserting myself as the fifth member," came a voice from the doorway.

Pitwick watched as Ruby seemed to lock up, and shared a bewildered look with Darmus.

"I feel like I should be insulted. You gathered almost everyone else, but I didn't get a goodbye?"

"You have a sister-"

"And she understands why I stand with the Ebon Blade. And more importantly, you, Deathlord."

"I don't use that title, in fact, I want to find who came up with it and kill them."

"You'll forgive this soldier for his impertinence, my lady."

"Flattery gets you nowhere."

"When you took charge of our order, I swore you an oath, that you would not embark on your trials alone, that I would stand by your side, go where you command, and kill-"

"-whatever I told you to kill." Ruby straightened up, sighing, "I think, out of all of us, you were always most deserving of the title of Knight, Thass."

The white haired Death Knight finally left his place in the doorway, settling in on Thalanor's right, and looking at the maps.

"Where are we? I only just got here."

The Dread Commander pointed out The Ebon Hold's approximate location, swiftly settling into the old rhythm.

"I take it they got the portal opened?"

"Less than ten minutes ago, I used a Death Gate to get here. There were still fluxes last I saw."

"Hmm."

"Ruby, do you mind if I borrow a couple of your wolves?"

"Hmm."

Pitwick followed Ruby's line of sight, she was locked onto a spot directly to Thassarian's right. Why? Oh.

The old gnome could practically see the ghost, standing beside his friend.

Pitwick coughed, snapping Ruby out of it.

"Any other orders, Highlord?"

"New girl."

"Ilyanaria."

"Yeah. There's a man down in your village, names Tukson. Lean on him a bit, try to convince him to give us information on the White Fang."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Don't call me that. Finally, Velann."

Ruby rubbed her temples, sighing, "Velann, seeing as everyone else is busy, I'm naming you acting commander of Acherus until further notice."

"What." Velann seemed to have lost all capability for emoting.

"You heard me. Dismissed."

Ruby turned and walked from the room, leaving Velann mouthing wordlessly behind her.

Thassarian followed her quickly after.

-X LINE BREAK X-

"Ruby, can I speak to you?"

Ruby quickly veered into a room, looking at the undead wolves she kept there. Reaching down, she ran a hand over one. It's worn hide and lack of any fur told her it was Uther. She hadn't had any reason to use the pack recently.

"What do you want?"

Thassarian settled beside her.

"I saw where you were looking."

Ruby didn't respond, scratching the wolf behind the ear.

"What happened to Koltira wasn't your fault."

"It was, we should have rescued him sooner, or been more thorough."

"I didn't think about it either."

"But it's my job to think of these things Thass."

The fact that she had gone through the same at Kel'thuzad's hands, that until Light's Hope, she hadn't been able to entertain the thought of betraying the Scourge, went unsaid.

Memories of that dark chamber, of having bones and organs wrenched out of place, of being burned with Fel Fire, surfaced, and with them, the scars.

Ruby could feel the criss-cross of surgical scars appear across her body, as they always did when she thought back to that time.

A growl rose from her throat, and with it more memories. Of slaughter and laughter. What the hell had she been thinking? How many people had died because of her? That, had been something that she could never fault Garrosh on. She had killed the woman who raised him.

"Ruby!"

Torn back into the present, Ruby looked up at Thassarian.

"What?"

"I understand you're dealing with some problems, but can you _not_ cause half the undead on Acherus to freak out?"

Sure enough, Ruby could hear the cacophony from the rooms around her. The wolves were baying loudly.

Ruby sent a silent order, and her forces quieted down.

"If Koltira's death was your fault, shouldn't it also be mine? I'm the one who dealt the killing blow."

"No, that's different, you didn't have a choice."

"And you did? You couldn't have known, or stopped Sylvanas."

"But I could have. After I found out about Liam, I went to talk to her. I should have killed her then, and taken control of the Val'kyr. But I didn't, and Koltira died because of that, and I'm going to have to live with that.

Ruby stood up, and walked out of the room, two wolves following her.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Jaune grunted as he was sent flying again. The sword he had been training with clattered to the ground.

Across from him, his… unconventional trainer, and current opponent, brought the great ax he used up. Jaune rolled out of the way as it came down, rending the earth.

Grabbing the sword, he brought it up to guard from the blow.

Feeling his bones quake from the blow caused Jaune to think very, _very_ hard about the life choices that got him here.

Jaune quickly switched sides as the ax moved faster than a chunk of metal that large had any right to.

Jaune felt his bones groan in protest against the force being applied to them.

They had spent the three days since he had agreed to prepare with Lam'Guld practicing on how to block blows.

Jaune would admit, nothing honed your skill at blocking like a seven foot tall, three hundred pound mass of muscle trying to lodge an ax into your chest cavity.

Jaune was ready for the third blow, reinforcing his body with Aura. This time, he was able to push Lam'Guld back.

"Interesting."

Jaune looked over at the origin of the voice, and was sent flying yet again.

"Did I say we were done?"

"He's right, you should never allow yourself to be distracted in a fight."

The man grabbed Jaune by the arm, and yanked him back up and settling him on his feet.

He towered above Lam'Guld by a good foot, with short cropped black hair. A massive axe sat on his back, and a smaller sword at his back. Looking over to the green skinned man, he spoke.

"You wouldn't mind if I borrowed your student for a moment would you, uh?"

"Lam'Guld, sir. Of course not."

The man gave a wane smile before guiding Jaune away, swooping down to grab the great sword in one hand.

Walking through the trees, they stopped before a giant horse, it's hair as white as snow.

"You haven't used this before, have you?"

The giant looked at the sword.

"No."

"Where is your weapon then?"

"Ruby took Crocea Mors."

"Is it important to you?"

"Well, my great-great-Grandfather used it in the war."

"I'm going to stop you right there. I asked if the blade was important to you. Not your family."

"There's a difference?"

"Of course there is. Take this blade for example," the giant drew the sword at his side, "Its' name is is Trol'kalar, it has been in my family for over a thousand years, but I always preferred my axe. So is the blade important to you?"

Jaune thought about it for a second, before nodding, "It is."

"Then I will try to convince Ruby to return it to you, though," he handed the sword back to Jaune, "You might want to continue training with that, Ruby is less than happy with us right now."

"Thoras!"

The giant grunted, before climbing onto his horse, "I best go find Whitemane, before she causes a incident."

The horse galloped off, and Jaune gripped his sword, turning back to meet up with Lam'Guld.

-X LINE BREAK X-

 _Darion lay on the table, with Ruby bustling around him._

" _Are we almost done?"_

" _It's only going to take longer if you ruin the stitches."_

 _The son of the Ashbringer grew quiet, allowing Ruby to continue fixing the hole in his body._

" _For what it's worth, it is good to see you again Darion."_

 _Darion smiled at that, "It's good to see you too."_

 _Ruby grabbed a pair of scissors, and cut the thread._

" _All right, sit up, I need to do your back."_

 _Darion sat up, letting Ruby get to the exit wound made by Ashbringer._

" _I've got to say, you've grown quite a bit, you're not the little kid I used to help train."_

" _Eight years will do that to a person."_

 _Ruby grew silent, and Darion felt the needle work stop._

" _Ruby?"_

" _I hadn't thought about that."_

" _You hadn't thought about it?"_

" _I knew, but, I guess it never quite sank in. We don't change here Darion. Twenty years from now, when the Scourge rules Azeroth, we're going to look the same as we do today."_

" _You think the Scourge will win?"_

" _Once we crush the Scarlet Crusade and Argent Dawn, nothing is going to stop us Darion, we're going to call Avernus back through the Dark Portal and use it to spearhead an assault from both sides, Khaz Modan, Stormwind, Gnomeregan, Lordaeron. They'll all be crushed between the jaws of the Scourge. Once they're out of the way we just need to deal with the savages on Kalimdor."_

 _Ruby cut the second set of stitches, before throwing a shirt at Darion._

" _You're good, now, get down to training, Lord Thorval and Amal'thazad will start drilling you in the arts of blood and ice."_

" _What about you?"_

" _I have some private things to deal with, then I need to meet with Arthas. I'll be joining you after I'm done with that."_

 _Darion grabbed Ashbringer, and started to head to the door._

" _Darion!"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _Try to stay away from Kel'thuzad, ok? Whatever he wants isn't good."_

" _Alright."_

" _Good. I need to go get Despair."_

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Gérard Lacroix stood at the top of Sorrow Hill, guarding the tomb of Uther. He was the youngest of the five honor guard, a duty he, and his wife, were extremely proud of_

 _Squinting down the hill, he saw someone coming closer. Stepping forward, he grabbed the spyglass they kept on hand._

 _A wizened old crone, limping along. Gerard stepped down the hill, his sword in hand._

" _What are you doing here?"_

" _I have come to pay my respects to the Lightbringer. He saved me from some Orcs during the early days of the Third War. Would you be so kind as to assist?"_

" _Of course."_

 _Gérard took the woman by the arm, and assisted her up to the tomb._

 _The other four stood at attention as they passed. The old woman looked down at Gérard's hand, before meeting his eyes. Her eyes were a strange color, not quite grey, more silver._

" _Married?"_

 _Gérard smiled, joy welling up in his chest._

" _Yes, two months ago."_

" _Good, good, it's always something special to find someone to be with."_

 _Gérard allowed the woman to step forward, into the tomb proper._

" _I must return to my post."_

" _Understandable. Go, do your duty."_

 _Gérard stepped away, returning to the front of the road._

 _Everything was quiet for several minutes before the sound of footfall came behind him._

" _Done already?"_

 _Turning, he gaped, before drawing his sword._

 _The other four had been killed, the first had his head twisted clean around, and the other three had their throats cut._

 _Wearing the same clothing as the old woman was a young one, a bloody knife in hand and glowing silver eyes._

" _How-"_

" _I'll admit, I expected this to be harder. A glamour never holds up on close inspection," the characteristic ring of a Death Knight came with those words._

 _Gérard charged forward, only to stop as a wall of fire to spring up._

" _You have a wife. I would suggest leaving to be with her."_

" _And let you defile the tomb of one of humanity's greatest heroes? I would sooner die."_

" _As you wish."_

 _The flames surged forward, and Gérard didn't even have time scream before they incinerated him._

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Ruby watched the pale green flames burn, the necrotic energy in them rapidly destroying the body._

" _Did he really think I wouldn't do it?"_

 _Ruby turned back to the tomb, and walked to the door._

 _Smashing it down, Ruby walked into the burial chamber, and stared at the stone likeness of her guardian._

 _Running her fingers along the edge, she pushed the slab aside, and stared down at the shroud covered figure._

 _What would he look like? How would eight years of decay have ravaged his body?_

" _Ruby? You're the one who did this to my tomb?"_

 _Ruby turned, staring at the floating form of Uther._

" _You're trapped in Frostmourne."_

" _And you too are bound to the blade, yet here we stand."_

" _I'm not bound-"_

" _But you are, you only felt the grasp of the blade for a moment, but it will forever stain you. So long as that cursed blade exists, your fate will be bound to it."_

" _Well, that isn't menacing."_

 _Ruby ran her fingers across the top of the sarcophagus._

" _Has Arthas finally decided that I must serve him too? Is that why you have come here?"_

" _No. He doesn't know I'm here. I, I wanted something to remember you by, even though I don't have any right to it."_

" _Why would you say that?"_

" _I've defiled everything you held sacred. Stratholme belongs the the Scourge, Lordaeron city is desecrated, as is all of the kingdom. Also, in case you had somehow forgotten, we're in your tomb and I'm standing above your body ready to rob it. I really don't think I could so much more when it came to defilement."_

" _You are not yer too far gone, that mark on your head shows it."_

 _Ruby's hand lept up, covering the spot where Xe'ra had branded her._

" _I am a leader of the Scourge. Over the next fortnight all that remains of your Order of the Silver Hand will be crushed under my might."_

" _Or will it? The winds of destiny move in ways that neither of us can understand child. Your heart is shrouded in the Void, but there is a glimmer of Light in it. Take my mantle, you always liked it."_

 _Ruby frowned, looking as the first Paladin faded away._

" _It shall be awhile before we speak again, but remember this. I am proud of you, and no matter what people may say to you, I never regretted taking you in when Alexandros asked me to."_

 _The Lightbringer faded completely, and with him gone, the room felt so much darker._

 _Ruby gently moved the shroud, and looked down at the body._

 _The muscles that had once held storn had long since succumbed to atrophy._

 _Ruby unclasped the mantle before gently removing it. Folding it, Ruby moved to place the shroud over the body, before pausing. The Death Knight took the hammer from clasped fingers, and replaced the shroud. Closing the sarcophagus, Ruby stepped out of the tomb and headed to where she had left Despair. Nothing but five dead bodies and a broken door to tell she was there._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

" _Radulf! Ya made it, mon."_

 _The undead warrior looked up from where he was running a whetstone down his axes._

" _Tal."_

 _The troll walked up, the tailcoat she wore swishing around her heels._

" _It's good ta see ya!"_

" _Same."_

 _Radulf's eyes locked onto the small girl standing behind Tal._

" _Weren't you the Gnome whose brother nearly got himself killed by Ruby?"_

" _My name is Mitnus."_

" _She works for me now!"_

 _Radulf looked around, before growling out a response, "Quiet down. We don't need the Night's Watch finding us."_

" _He has a point Tal."_

" _And speaking of them, is there any reason you wanted me to meet you this close to Stormwind?"_

" _Ya, that, over dere!"_

 _Tal pointed to the tower in the distance._

" _What about it?"_

" _Right, so, ere's da ting, ever since da War of the Shifting Sands, we ain't been making much money. Everyone's in Outland, which means no one be wanting a privateer. We been making a bit of money smugglin' but even dat isn't paying much."_

" _The crew isn't happy."_

" _So, I get a brilliant idea! Da Dark Riders ain't been seen in months. They've taken plenty of rare stuff over da years. So why not raid Karazhan?"_

" _She's completely ignoring the fact that it used to inhabited by the strongest mortal magic user, which means it's probably riddled with traps."_

" _But I ain't, someting like dat has to got plenty of treasure for anyone who survives it."_

" _I don't care about treasure."_

" _But dere's probably a hell of alot of thing to kill in dere, which is why we called ya. We want ya to be part of da muscle on dis job."_

 _Radulf stood up, and grabbed the axes._

" _Show me the rest of your team first."_

 _-X Line Break X-_

" _You're late."_

 _Ruby kept an impassive look on her face when Kel'thuzad spoke._

" _I was busy with the Knights of Acherus."_

" _When your king calls you, there is nothing more important."_

" _ **Kel'thuzad. I believe that is the King's decision."**_

" _You are to soft on her, my lord. She betrayed us once already."_

" _ **And has shown no sign that she intends to do so again. In the last seven years of service, Ruby has distinguished herself. Ruby, please at least send us a messenger if you are going to be late."**_

" _Of course, my lord."_

" _ **Now, I have gathered you here for a reason. A show of force. Despite of Kel'Thuzad's victory at Light's Hope, and the attacks performed by Lana'thel's San'layn the Scarlet Crusade has seen it appropriate to build three towns on my land. The five of us will crush one of them, 'New Avalon'. They will learn to fear the might of the Scourge.**_

" _Of course, Death God."_

" _As you wish, my king."_

" _Your will shall be done, my lord."_

" _ **Ruby?"**_

" _They won't know what hit them."_


	17. Chapter 17

AN: Well, it has been a hot minute, hasn't it? I have excuse here, this chapter has been done and up on Spacebattles for two months.

My new years goal? Get Grave a recommendation on TV Tropes.

\- X LINE BREAK X-

Jaune sat, leg jumping up and down.

Where were they? He hadn't heard anything from either Velann and Darmus _or_ Thoras in the past month. What had happened to getting him a weapon? The Mak'Rogahn was _today_.

"Jaune, calm down. If worse comes to worse, you can borrow Miló."

"He won't have to."

"Ruby!"

The silver eyed Highlord walked forward, Crocea Mors in hand.

"Sorry this took so long to get back to you. It isn't an easy process reducing the scale of runes, and once Darmus was done I wanted to add my own set, which took even longer, but now it's done."

Ruby handed the blade to Jaune, who drew it from the brown scabbard.

Two sets of patterns were inlaid on the blade, one was in gold that seemed to glow with an inner light, geometric angles danced along Crocea Mors. The second set was

… cruder, a deep red, the lines made a set of arcs.

"Darmus gave you a lot of basic stuff, blade is sharper, tougher, lighter, just an all around improvement. He's working on giving some to the shield similar ones, hence the temporary sheath."

Jaune swung the blade, noticing the lack of weight, and the new pommel.

It ended in a half moon, like his emblem, with a yellow gem held in it.

"What's that?"

"Some Lighting Dust, if things go badly in a fight you can break it off and detonate it. Plus the pommel itself is weighted, so you could probably brain someone with it if you tried hard enough. Channel Aura into your hand and run it along the blade."

"...Ok."

Jaune hesitantly moved his hand towards the edge.

"The _flat_ of the blade."

Jaune sighed in relief, and did so.

The red runes proceeded to glow brighter, and the whole blade shimmered.

"Jaune!"

Looking up, Jaune saw a book flying at him, and did what came naturally, he swung Crocea Mors.

The sword cleaved through the book like a hot knife through butter.

Then he registered the heat.

Looking at the singed edges of the book, he glanced down at Crocea Mors, shimmering with _heat_.

"Fire runes across the whole thing, the more Aura you pour into it the hotter it gets."

"Should we be worried about damaging Crocea Mors?" Pyrrha asked.

"It doesn't get that hot. I actually stole this from an old Paladin I worked with a couple of times, Thoros. He used to coat his swords in oil and light them up, completely wrecked the blade, but I won't argue the results."

Ruby stepped up, and pulled Jaune into a hug.

"Ruby."

"Listen to me very carefully, I wouldn't have put you in this scenario if I didn't think you could win it, and I did everything in my power to sway it in your favor, but I think someone else is trying to make sure you lose."

"Why-"

"Because two days ago, you were set to go into the ring against me in a private match watched by the teachers at Beacon. Yesterday, it got changed to a match against Cardin in the Vytal arena before the first match of the tournament. It took everything Ozpin and I had to get you Crocea Mors. Hell, we'd both be in hot water of they found out I was here. Someone is trying to make an example out of you. Don't let them."

"Are you sure I can do this? You said it yourself, I don't have much training."

"Neither did Donovan Lancaster, and while I'd rather see the bastard burn, there's no denying he's one of the best damn warriors I've ever seen. You can do this."

Ruby broke the hug, straightening up.

"Good luck, now I need to be going, Team RWBY has the first match and we need to plan."

As Ruby walked towards the door, she seemed to fade from sight.

Jaune looked at his upgraded sword, before looking at Pyrrha.

"How long until the first match?"

"Three hours."

"Then we better get started training."

Pyrrha nodded, before grabbing Miló.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Yang sat on her bed, waiting for Ruby to get back. Blake was, as had become customary for her, sprawled out on her bed, asleep.

Weiss was looking down at Myrtenaster, a look of worry on her face.

The door creaked open, and Ruby stepped in.

"Blake! Blake! Wake up!"

Blake slowly sat up, stretching, before turning her head towards Ruby.

"Hm?"

Ruby pulled out an envelope, "This, is who we will be fighting in a couple hours."

"Oh," Blake sat up straighter.

Rubu quickly slit the envelope, "Team RWBY will be facing Team… SSSN? How do you pronounce that? What color is SSSN?"

"Dunno."

"Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough, consisting of… Sun Wukong, Scarlet David,Sage Ayana, and Neptune Vasilias."

"I know the first one."

"Really? Who is he?"

"The blond haired Faunus who helped us at the docks."

"Who?"

"The 'degenerate'?"

"Not ringing any bells."

"How-"

"Twenty years, Blake. Penny's lucky I recognized her, and from what little of that I can recall, she blew up a Bullhead. What do you know about him?"

"He uses a bo staff that can split into a pair of nunchaku or shotguns."

"Right then, we'll deal with that when we come to it. Weiss, will you be able to support us with Dust?"

The white haired (ex)heiress didn't respond, rotating between the chambers of Myrtenaster.

"Weiss? Everything alright?"

"I'm almost out."

"Of Dust?"

"Yes. I must have used too much during training."

"Then we'll have to head out a bit earlier to pick some up."

"We'll be lucky if we can, Dust has been running low for the last month."

Weiss worried her lip, before speaking, "I could ask-"

"-Your father? Yeah, not going to happen."

"Ruby, I can't fight to my full potential without Dust, I refuse to give Team RWBY any less than my best."

"Well, I refuse to let you degrade yourself by going and begging him. Even if you did, there's no way he could get it here in time."

"I don't want to be a problem."

"Weiss, you're not a problem because you don't have access to Dust. Listen, do you have anyone you can call to try to get you some that _isn't_ your father?"

"Yes, my sister, and the family butler, Klein."

"Try to call them, meanwhile me and Blake are going to try to find some, Ok?"

Weiss nodded, and Ruby gestured for Yang to follow her out of the room.

"I want you to stay with Weiss while she makes the calls, ok?"

"You don't think that she'll call her dad, do you?"

"I hope not, but, better be safe than sorry."

"Ok."

"Thanks."

Yang walked back into the room, where Weiss was futzing with her scroll.

"Come on, let's go make those calls."

-X LINE BREAK X-

"Doctor Polendina? The patient that General Ironwood asked you to look over is here."

"Yes, yes send him in."

Geppetto looked up from his current design, waiting for the door to open.

James had personally asked him to look at this case, the first one since Penny had been 'born'.

The door opened, and Geppetto's new patient limped into the room.

The blond haired young man was leaning on a hand carved cane. Blue eyes flickered around the room.

"Doctor Polendina?"

"Yes. And you are Anduin Wrynn?"

"Yes."

"Right, let's see what's wrong, up on the table."

The young man moved to it, and Geppetto's eyes softened. He hated seeing people like Anduin, couldn't be older than twenty, and it was clear he had been using that cane for a while.

Geppetto wheeled himself over to the side of the table as Anduin rolled up his pant leg.

"Pretty bad, right?"

"I've seen a lot worse."

Both statements were true. Geppetto had seen much worse during his time with the Atlas military, but Anduin's leg _was_ pretty bad.

From the mid thigh down to just above the ankle, a mass of scar tissue made up his leg, the knee probably wasn't capable of bending anymore.

 _Crushed limb. Crash? No, something else._

"Why wasn't this amputated?"

It was a valid question. The injury that caused this would have had to be horrific.

"We weren't close to an experienced doctor, and they didn't want to risk me bleeding out."

 _Barbaric, they're lucky this didn't get infected._

"How long ago did this happen?"

"Five years ago."

"And they didn't amputate at any point!?"

Of all the irresponsible things! An injury like this _had_ to be keeping Anduin in constant pain.

"What were your parents thinking!?"

Five years. _Five years_. He ought to give them a piece of his mind!

"My mother died when I was a baby, and my father wasn't exactly the best at things like this."

"Wasn't?"

"He died. Three years ago."

"Ah."

Geppetto busied himself with examining the leg.

"Well, I have good news, and bad news."

"Let's get the bad news out of the way."

"There's no saving your leg. This long, and with this much damage, there's nothing we can do."

"I figured as much."

Well, he had a better head on his shoulders than most people sent Geppetto's way.

"The good news is that General Ironwood is pushing for you, so we'll probably have you in physical therapy by the end of the month. After that, I honestly don't know, it changes from person to person, but probably somewhere in the range of a couple months."

"Ok."

"Good. Now lie down. I need to get some measurements of your leg."

Geppetto grabbed a tape measure from his desk.

Time to do what he did best. Help people.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Jaune tightened his grip on Crocea Mors, standing across from Cardin.

"Ready to lose?"

"Not on your life."

Jaune waited.

One.

Two.

 _BZZZZ_

The minute the buzzer went off, Cardin was on him.

Jaune brought his sword up to deflect the mace.

Compared to Lam'Guld, Cardin might as well have been a gnat. The mace was forced back.

Cardin grit his teeth, before swinging the mace even faster, _harder_.

Jaune stepped into the blow, letting his Aura take the hit, and drove the moon shaped pommel into the top of Cardin's skull, right above his right eye.

The mace impacted, but it was dulled.

Cardin staggered back, clutching the spot, waiting for his Aura to heal it.

Jaune wouldn't give him the chance.

The noise of the crowd was nothing but a quiet roar as Jaune stepped into Cardin's guard.

Aura was a great thing, but it didn't make you invincible, it could heal small wounds without a problem. Bigger ones, those were different, it would allow you to ignore broken bones and other structural damage, but the minute it was gone those came rushing back. Those took about a day to heal, faster than someone without access to their Aura, but a death sentence on the battlefield. It was one of the reasons why Huntsmen were assigned to teams, so that if it happened they had someone to recover them. It was also why Jaune chose his next move very carefully.

Part of his training had included human anatomy. The Knights were, at their core, killers. Created to crush the life from anything that crossed their path, and Lam'Guld had managed to drill a bit of that into his head.

Jaune had learned, he wasn't good at all out battle, one where they was no time to think or to improvise. But what he was good at, was tactics.

From his very first fight against the Deathstalker in the Emerald Forest all those months ago. Jaune had always been better when he was allowed to hang back, and think of a plan.

And he had a month to come up with this one. If anything, he was _lucky_ he didn't have to face Ruby, because there was no way this would have work on her.

Crocea Mors lashed out, cutting through the skin of the wrists. Cardin's Aura quickly healed them, but Jaune's goal had been achieved. If everything else went according to plan, he had already won.

Cardin drove a foot into Jaune's gut forcing him back.

Jaune glanced up at the board displaying their Auras. Cardin was at 90%, he was at 95%.

Considering the rules were that they were going until one of them was unconscious, it shouldn't have been as important, but to Jaune, it was a countdown to his victory.

Jaune let Cardin steady himself.

"Was that supposed to stop me?"

Jaune smiled, "No, just testing your reflexes. You're a bit slow."

Cardin growled, before unleashing an onslaught of blows.

Not one of them hit Jaune. Compared to Lam'Guld, Ren, or Pyrrha, Cardin was just too slow.

Each strike sailed past Jaune, a few light steps was all it took.

Cardin stepped forward, and Jaune used it to his advantage.

A step and a half turn and he was behind Cardin, and Crocea Mors found its mark.

The wound healed, and Cardin spun. This time Jaune didn't have time to respond, and the mace crashed into his head.

Jaune felt the blood trickle down the side of his head and everything went black momentarily. The wound quickly staunched itself, But Cardin was already on him.

Crocea Mors danced, the runes lightening it to the point that the only thing slowing it was his own speed. A brilliant web of blue, gold, grey and red, blocking every attack from Cardin.

What had Ruby said about Cardin's weapon when they had fought near the beginning of the year? Titanium, with the ability to channel Aura to the tip. Strong enough to shatter a Deathstalker carapace. Jaune glanced up at the screen. From 95% to 70% in one blow. Cardin had stopped holding back. Well Jaune still had some tricks up his sleeve.

Jaune finally understood why the Knights had treated his gift like a joke. Most of them had no honor. Every underhanded tactic was allowed under their doctrine.

It wasn't something Jaune agreed with, but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to use some underhanded tactics.

Jaune stepped forward catching Cardin's mace with Crocea Mors, and drove his closed fist into Cardin's nose.

Cartilage snapped under Jaune's knuckles, and Cardin staggered back, clutching his newly broken nose, letting Jaune catch his breath.

Jaune wanted to avoid using the runes Ruby added unless he had no choice, not only did they take a second to activate, but they used up some of his rapidly dwindling Aura.

Jaune unleashed his own assault on Cardin, slashing at him again and again.

Each blow ticked away at Cardin's reserves, but then Cardin made his move.

A foot lashed out, and Jaune's knee gave a sickening crack.

Jaune clenched his teeth, that wasn't good.

The mace smashed into Jaune's sternum, with a howling sound, and sent him flying.

Crocea Mors flew from his hand, and Jaune struggled to get up.

"Give up, you can't win."

Jaune looked up, past Cardin, and his eyes found his friends.

Yang and Nora were leaning over the side, yelling something that was lost in the din. Blake, Ren, and Weiss were in further back. Worry clear in their form. Ruby stood furthest away, her back to the wall, watching the match with an impassive look.

Then he saw Pyrrha, beautiful, kind, Pyrrha. So far out of his league that they might as well be on different planets, halfway down the steps, like she was ready to jump in and stop the match. Even from here, Jaune could see something glistening in her eyes.

 _A tear?_

Jaune pushed himself up, looking at the screen again.

30% to 10%, it would be over quickly if Jaune lost that last bit. Cardin was between him and Crocea Mors. Cardin swung his mace, and Jaune threw himself out of the way as it howled its dirge.

Coming up from the desperate dive, Jaune dodged another blow.

It was all Jaune could do to get out of the way of each strike. He couldn't get to Crocea Mors. This was a losing battle.

Jaune growled. He wasn't going out like this. He may of snuck his way into Beacon, but he had fought for his place there, spent night after night training with Pyrrha.

Jaune dodged the mace again. What to do?

Glancing at the screen, trying to think 10% to 10%, how would he- wait.

Dodging another blow, Jaune looked again. 9% to 10%

He dodged two more. 7% to 10%

Cardin was reinforcing his strikes with Aura. Jaune dodged, again and again.

6%

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

Cardin's Aura gave out with a shattering of black, and with it, the worst injuries returned.

Cardin's left leg gave out immediately, and the mace dropped from his hand as the tendons Jaune had severed earlier in the fight made themselves known. His nose started to become more inflamed immediately.

Walking forward, Jaune stopped before the head of team CRDL, and kicked him in the gut.

Powerless to defend himself, Cardin doubled over.

Another kick, this time to the head, and he was unconscious.

Jaune walked over to Crocea Mors, and picked it up.

Silence.

Not a single sound.

Then, two heavy gauntlets came together. A discordant clap. And the calm broke.

Thunderous applause split the air, and he could see all his friends rushing down to meet him.

Pyrrha reached him first, tackling him into a hug.

Quickly after, Nora joined in, dragging a reluctant Ren with her.

Yang came next, enveloping the four in a massive hug, while Weiss and Blake stood to the side.

Finally came Ruby, walking forward in her armor.

"Before we celebrate too much, why don't we get Jaune checked out, he's low on Aura and I'm worried about that head wound."

"Way to kill the mood, sis."

"Listen, I'll pay for drinks after we're done for the day, but we don't need him keeling over concussed, that would ruin the mood worse than I ever could."

Jaune allowed himself to be led hand first over to the medical station by Pyrrha. As they all moved towards it, Jaune couldn't help but smile as his second family joked and laughed.

-X LINE BREAK X-

 _Dudiir stepped off the ship with the Prophet. Resisting the urge to glare at the elves around them._

 _They weren't like the ones that had helped them after the Exodar crashed. These were the ones who attacked Tempest Keep._

 _Blood Elves, they called themselves. Fitting, considering that their leader had killed so many of his brothers and sisters._

 _The Prophet walked forward, meeting with the one eyed elf standing before them._

" _Prophet Velen, I am Regent Lord Lor'themar, with the death of prince Kael'thas, I lead the Blood Elves," Lor'themar swooped into a low bow, "While I know it will never be enough, I extended the deepest apologies, from myself, and the Blood Elves as a whole, for the pain Kael'thas and his followers brought to you and your people."_

" _Do not degrade yourself by bowing to me like this, Regent Lord. You did not know what your prince had been doing, and, in the end, he was able to do what many other could not, and refuse the corrupting influence of the Fel."_

" _Yes, and he shall be remembered fondly for that. Nonetheless, not only did he cause many Draenei deaths while working with Illidan Stormrage, he also sent us one of the Naaru, and it shames me greatly to say we have not treated it well."_

 _Dudiir stepped forward, "What did you do to him you-"_

 _A single alabaster hand raised, silencing the Anchorite._

" _You will forgive my student, he is young, and has a tendency to not think before he speaks."_

 _Lor'themar nodded, "Would you like to see him?"_

" _Yes. That would be very helpful. Come, Dudiir, let us go see how M'ure is, shall we?"_

 _Dudiir followed behind the prophet and Regent Lord. Quietly seething in rage. How [I]dare[/I] they? The Naaru were the most beautiful creatures in the universe, and they had hurt one! Why was Velen taking it so calmly?_

 _Stepping into the area, Dudiir looked down at M'uru. His rage burst out, years spent watching the Naaru on Tempest Keep, his only passion, told him something was wrong._

" _No, No, No, No! What did you do!"_

 _Rushing down the steps, Dudiir looked up at M'uru. His Light had darkened almost completely!_

" _You monsters! How could you! You took one of the most pure, kind, beings in existence and tore the Light from it!"_

 _Righteous indigestion welled up in Dudiir's chest, and be grabbed his staff, turning to bring the Light down upon these butchers._

 _Then M'uru spoke, a calming influence on the Draenei._

 _Calm yourself. We knew this would happen, and I was willing to face it._

" _What- Velen."_

 _Dudiir turned to his teacher, standing their calm, "You let this happen!? Why!?"_

" _Because it would help free the Blood Elves, and one life, even if that life is a Naaru, is worth paying to save a race from Kil'jaeden's grasp."_

 _Velen stepped forward, looking up to M'uru, "Are you prepared for the last step?"_

 _Yes_ _._

 _Gently, Velen drew Light from M'uru, and the Naaru darkened completely. It took all of Dudiir's self control to not cry out as it happened._

 _One thousand years, it could take that long for M'uru to gain his radiance back._

 _Turning to a young woman who had been waiting there, Velen held out M'uru's light._

 _The man standing beside the girl spoke out, "Aveena, you don't have to do this."_

 _The girl held the light close to her heart, looking down at it._

" _But, I do. Compared to saving a whole race, my life isn't so big. Goodbye, Kalec, my love."_

 _Aveena stepped into the muddy waters M'uru had hovered above, before the last fragment of the Naaru's Light entered her. She glowed with the brightness of a sun, before sinking into the water, which swiftly cleared itself, and released a pillar of Light._

" _The Sunwell, it's been revived…"_

" _Come Dudiir, it is time we take M'uru and return home."_

 _Kalec had left the room, and Dudiir heard a mournful roar from the sky._

" _Today is a day of joy, and mourning, as I knew it would be."_

 _Dudiir followed the Prophet back to the ship, the darkened form of M'uru behind them._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _The first sign the Scarlet Crusade had that something was wrong was the silence. The undead of Acherus and Naxxramas had been toiling night and day, gathering bodies and bringing them to the two dread citadels. Now there was silence. Not even the horses made a noise. The survivors would learn that they had been the first to be killed, made into horses for the new Death Knights._

 _Then the fire hit, a sickly green, the color of rot ate building after building. Killing the inhabitants._

 _The guards rushed out weapons drawn, ready to kill the undead abominations, only the stop._

 _Standing before them was a giant, easily standing twenty feet tall, with a sword half that in hand._

" _I thought, that I ordered your disgusting kind to be eliminated. Instead you survived, and have diluted the Vrykul blood. I,Ymiron, The Dragonflayer, will help my God finish what I started so long ago. Staring. With. You."_

 _An arrow was loosed, only for the giant to catch it, snapping it in two with the smallest amount of pressure._

 _Ymiron swung his sword, bifurcating several crusaders in one swipe, their armor nothing compared to the Vrykul king's strength._

 _Despite this showing, the zealotry of the remaining crusaders pushed them onward to face the giant. Their cause was righteous, these monsters had corrupted their land, slaughtered their families, taken their heroes._

 _They would burn the Scourge with the flames of the righteous. If not today, not here, then soon, their brothers would avenge them._

 _And so, one by one, they threw themselves at the Dragonflayer._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _In another part of New Avalon, more crusaders were attempting to shoot down the Blood Queen._

 _Lana'thel's bat-like wings held her aloft, like a cruel parody of an angel. She rained down corrupted blood upon the crusade, watching as it ate through their skin._

 _Out of the corner of her eye, something caught her attention._

 _A young woman, hiding in the shadows. Poor thing must have been terrified, watching so many people die._

 _Fading into the shadows, Lana'thel appeared behind her. Placing a hand over her mouth, the San'layn Vampyr bit into her neck._

 _The nameless woman struggled briefly, before slowly giving in._

 _When Lana'thel released her grip on her new child a moment later, her precious one swallowed air a few times, attempting to quench her thirst._

" _You know what you must do now, dear, [B]feed.[/B]_

 _The Childe rushed out of the shadows, tackling one of the crusaders to the ground and tearing at his throat._

 _Lana'thel stepped forward, the shadows following her, wrapping around the area unnaturally, blocking out Ruby's flames and creating a second night._

" _Come now, dear. Let us be at least slightly civilized."_

 _As the night of the San'layn gathered, all the crusaders could see was the green cat like eyes of Lana'thel and the glowing red eyes of her new child._

" _There is still so much more to eat."_

 _And then even those faded, leaving pitch blackness._

 _The crusaders prepared themselves. They would hold out for Grand Crusader Dathrohan, or High General Abbendis. This was not their time, they would live to see the undead forced out of Lordaeron, to see the the blue and gold flag fly above the keep, and Calia Menethil sit the throne._

 _All the blood was torn from one of their bodies, and then the slaughter began._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _The spikes of ice slowly grew, impaling the crusaders in it's path, unaffected by the heat from the raging flames._

 _Such was the power of an Archlich._

 _Kel'thuzad hung above the ground, weaving a grand tapestry._

 _Spike of ice lifted bodies into the air, a grisly monument. Blasts of Light were casually ignored._

 _A group of scarlet civilians attempted to flee, a quick gesture with two fingers saw walls of ice grow to stop them. Another saw ice rain down, cutting them down._

 _Another set of Crusaders charged into the fray, into the slaughter. Blades of ice so small that they didn't notice them until it was too late, lay in wait. It took another slight gesture to see them slashed to pieces._

 _Fools, fighting something they couldn't hope to beat. With Medivh and Antonidas dead and Khadgar on Outland, Kel'thuzad was the single strongest mage on Azeroth. Dalaran had elected that fool Rhonin to lead them, and the Proudmoore girl Arthas was still so fond of didn't have the skill to stand up to him._

 _Yet another set charged in, only to perish as Kel'thuzad froze them and shattered them into the wind._

 _By the night's end, New Avalon would be nothing but a message, and testament to the might that five members of the Scourge could level upon those who drew their ire._

 _More cannon fodder came, and Kel'thuzad crushed them between two masses of ice._

 _Lambs to the slaughter._

 _Kel'thuzad didn't know what Arthas was doing, but he was willing to bet what the rest were._

 _Ymiron would be be looking for someone strong enough to fight him, Lana'thel would be feeding, and Ruby would be turning any who survived her flames into undead for her little pet project._

 _Kel'thuzad didn't trust her. She had betrayed them once, and they lost Anub'arak because of it. Letting her build an army was asking for something to go wrong._

 _Another wave of spikes._

 _But maybe Kel'thuzad worried too much, he prided himself on his skill at breaking people, and he had no doubt that he had broken her. Just look at her, she was too scared to refuse Arthas anything he demands. Not telling her that Arthas had been angry to learn her fate had been the coup de grâce, a false guillotine hanging above her, that if she stepped out of line she would be under his blades again in a second._

 _And then the two of them had to go and ruin it._

 _Once Ruby was under Arthas's aegis, she had gotten more and more defiant._

 _Frozen in ice to suffocate._

 _Kel'thuzad was certain that it was the girl's fault that he hadn't had any support when he had been attacked._

 _Flesh torn off in a blast of ice wind._

 _He would have his revenge. That was something Kel'thuzad swore._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _The crusader ran forward, blade drawn._

" _For Lordaeron, for Terenas, for Uth-"_

 _The metal wrapped around his throat in a vice grip. Despite the flame raging around them, it was eerily cold._

 _The void sucks at your soul. It is content to feast slowly._

 _A quick move, and the crusader's neck snapped. His soul, though, would be used for something greater._

 _The girl, her hair as grey as steel, sacrificed it to the Twisted Nether._

 _The flames that came from that dimension were different, completely uncontrollable, but all the more destructive._

 _Ruby let them loose, listening to the the screams of terror with a mad grin._

 _ **There had been a time where she couldn't bring herself to listen to the screams of the dying. What had changed?**_

 _Ruby brought the hand not holding her scythe, up, rubbing her forehead._

 _ **What had ever happened to Crescent Rose? The last time she had seen it was when her and Arthas had fought.**_

' _What did it matter where it was? It was nothing but a piece of broken junk now.'_

 _Something about saying that caused Ruby to start to hyperventilate._

 _ **Oh, Dust. How would Yang react if she saw what Ruby was doing? Or Dad, or Uncle Qrow, or Weiss, or Blake?**_

 _Ruby staggered. She hadn't thought about Remnant in a long time. Maybe, Ruby thought, rubbing at her forehead harder, her and Arthas would find a way to get there and add them to the Scourge when they were done with Azeroth._

 _Something about that made her feel sick to her stomach._

 _Another Crusader ran forward, and Ruby rammed the blunt end of the scythe into his skull. He collapsed, groaning._

 _Ruby moved along, trying to focus on anything other than the nagging feeling that something was wrong._

 _Eventually, she reached the center of town, a collection of unconscious guards behind her._

 _Collapsing into a bench, Ruby waited for Arthas._

 _-X LINE BREAK X-_

 _Arthas stepped into the room of the keep, Frostmourne held in hand._

 _Three crusaders charged, only to join their comrades in the blade._

 _Walking further into the room, Arthas rammed the blade into a vault door, and started to cut._

 _The vault was made of steel, intent to hold the Scarlet Crusade's most sacred items. It could keep an Orc out for a month. But nothing stopped Frostmourne. There was not a single item in existence that could withstand the might of the Frozen Throne._

 _Eventually, the door gave way, and Arthas walked in._

 _Beneath the Helm, the blue-green eyes of the fallen prince roamed the vault._

 _It had taken months for him to find this item, using the San'layn to spy for him. He didn't have much longer._

" _Halt!"_

 _Arthas sighed, turning to the the new man._

" _And you are?" Arthas really didn't care, he just wanted this over with._

" _Scarlet Lord Jesseriah Mccree, this is my village."_

" _You might want to look outside, 'your village' doesn't exactly exist anymore."_

 _The Scarlet Lord charged forward, wings of light flaring behind him._

 _Arthas took his head off in one move._

 _As the body fell, the Lich King scoffed._

" _I killed Uther, and Anasterian. Why do people think they could beat me?"_

 _Arthas grabbed the item, before teleporting it to Icecrown Citadel._

 _Turning, Arthas went to clear up the leftovers._


	18. Chapter 18

Blake looked around Amity Colosseum, watching the force field raise, muting the noise of the crowd.

Ruby had taken the lead as they walked to the waiting point. Her long, loping strides had settled into a sharp march, and the subtle hunch she normally kept disappeared, making it startlingly clear just how _big_ Ruby was. She stood a head taller than Yang, who was one of the biggest girls in Beacon.

' _What did the Shapers do, taint the water on Azeroth with some sort of growth elixir?'_

Seriously, almost every person Blake had met from Azeroth who wasn't a dwarf, goblin, or gnome was above average height. Darion, perpetually nineteen Darion, stood at almost seven feet. Thoras had to easily break twelve feet, and most others stood somewhere between the two.

They stopped at the edge between the sections, Team SSSN standing across from them.

Sun had an easy going smile on his face. His tail coiled around the bo staff he used.

"Hey, it's good to see you again."

Ruby stared at him, and Blake could tell she _still_ didn't recognize him.

His eyes slid off Ruby, locking onto Blake, "I had meant to meet up with you guys, but she," he cocked his head at Ruby, "disappeared, then she was back, then you were in the hospital, then there was the dance, and the invasion, and it has all been one big mess."

"Hi, Sun."

Ruby's eyes didn't seem to move, but she made subtle gestures that made it clear she had scanned them.

Ruby held out her metal clad hand, and Sun grabbed it. Letting go, they both stepped back.

The slots started rolling, before landing on grey and green, the arena shifting to match.

Blake reached down, scraping her hand along the bottom of the arena, feeling the terrain.

"Real grass, this will help."

It would, the biggest drawback to Druidic magic Blake had found (and with the way time worked in the Dream, she had a lot of time to find it out) was that you couldn't make something from nothing. While she didn't need to carry around seeds to make plants grow, she did need actual dirt for them to anchor to. Having plants there just made it even easier.

The other half of the arena, however, was a urbanized mess. Skeletal, half finished structures dotted the cracked concrete.

In other words, Blake couldn't have gotten a better arena. In the grassy section, she could lay traps for the the other team, and in the other half she could use her skills at stealth, by far the best in Beacon's first year, if not the whole school.

Everyone drew their weapons, even Ruby, who let a knife fall into her hand.

3.

2.

1.

 _BZZZZZZ_

Ruby surged backwards, only the dead petals and a knife flying at Sun's head as a testament she had been there.

Blake manipulated the grass between them, causing to grow about their heads.

In the moment they had, Team RWBY set the field.

Ruby climbed onto the one tree in the area, unholstering Crescent Rose and bringing the scope up to her eye.

Blake set a spot of grass up, the first person to step in it would see their feet snarled up.

Then the first member, Sage, Blake thought his name was, stepped through the grass.

Weiss set a glyph, and Yang ran through it.

Propelled forward, The blonde brawler use the momentum to power her punch.

Sage grunted, apparently unfazed by the combination of fist and shotgun.

A bang echoed out, and Blake turned.

There was a hole in Ruby's chest, between the chink in her armor, and a greenish substance leaked from it. Before her eyes, black energy lashed at the wound, removing the bullet and allowing the flesh back to knit together.

Cresent Rose went off with a bang, and Blake heard a startled yelp from the other side.

Blake slinked through the grass, moving to flank the other team.

Slipping into the shadows, Blake took in the area.

Sun and his blue haired teammate where hiding in the buildings, waiting for something. Their red headed team mate was using a grappling hook to swing from building to building, desperately dodging shot after shot from Crescent Rose.

Yang flew through the grass before skidding to a halt, eyes red.

The blue haired member of SSSN (a quick check of the screen revealed him to be the N- Neptune) jumped out, leveling his gun at Yang.

The telltale crackle of electricity split the air, and Yang fell to one knee with a shriek.

Despite her eyes getting redder and her hair paler, Blake's partner wasn't capable of moving with the electricity playing havoc with her body.

Shifting Gambol Shroud into its pistol form, Blake calmly slipped into the shadows behind him.

Leveling the gun at Neptune's head, Blake knew her eyes had wavered under the lids.

'There's full Auric shield between the bullet and his skull,' Blake desperately tried to convince herself, 'it won't be like then.'

'Then' had been an accident in the White Fang, a routine mission gone wrong, ending with a dead guard and the blood on Blake's hands.

She couldn't have known that the SDC had hired guards without their Aura unlocked, Irving and Adam had tried to convince her of that, but it haunted her nonetheless.

Yang's screams pushed her on, and she fired the shot.

Neptune's head jerked forward, the bullet digging in an eighth of an inch, before dropping to the ground.

It also forced him to let go of the trigger, and Yang took advantage of that.

Rising to her feet, flames licking at her hair, Yang turned and delivered a brutal left hook to the side of his face, Celica going off with a bang.

Unlike his dark skinned teammate, Neptune certainly _was_ affected by the strike, his head cracking to the side, pellets falling from his face as his aura healed the collection of wounds.

Then, Sun dropped down swinging his staff at Blake. The Faunus jumped back, letting a clone take her place as she nimbly flipped up the side of the building.

Landing above the line of her grass, Blake quickly took stock of the battle.

Ruby was maintaining her suppressing fire on the last member, who by process of elimination, must have been Scarlet.

Weiss was fighting Sage, using her Glyphs to hamper his moves.

Yang meanwhile, was going after Sun, whose staff's longer range let him hold her slightly at bay.

Neptune had recovered, and was leveling his gun at Yang's back again.

Raising her hand, Blake called upon the power of Elune.

A pillar of moonlight came down, searing Neptune and stopping him from firing. Blake quickly followed it up with two shots, and lept down.

As she fell, Blake felt her body get sleeker, claws sprouting from her fingers. Landing as a giant black panther, Blake attacked.

Neptune yelped, switching his gun into a guandao, trying to fend off Blake.

The Cat… did she technically count as a Faunus like this? She _was_ an actual big cat right now, whatever. The Cat slipped past his guard, scratching at his face.

The angry red welts appeared for a second, before they healed, but Blake paid for it.

The guandao's edge hit her, and _she_ got to feel the electricity course through her.

Blake hissed, and it only got worse as Neptune followed it up with a second blow.

As Neptune raised the guandao for a third though, a bullet fell from the sky.

"Huh?"

It was swiftly followed by Scarlet, right onto Neptune's head. Blake, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, quickly slunk away and shifted back.

Leaning against the building, Blake took a moment to catch her breath, before throwing Gambol Shroud.

The Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe wrapped around Sun's arms, pulling them to the side.

Yang followed up with a volley of punches, driving Ember Celica into Sun's sternum again and again.

A bullet hit Yang, originating from Scarlet, who had gotten back to his feet.

Unfortunately for him, Yang had gained enough momentum that a single shot wasn't going to stop her.

A thunderous crash, followed by a buzzer going off, had Blake looked at the screen.

Sage had been eliminated. She took a moment to watch the replay.

Weiss created a Glyph below her feet, and used it to launch herself into the air.

At the same time, Ruby fired a barrage of shots at Sage.

Another Glyph flared to life, holding Sage in place.

As Weiss reached the zenith of her jump, a third Glyph caught her, suspending the white haired girl in the air.

Yellow Glyphs appeared across Myrtenaster, and another, colorless one, behind Sage.

Ruby drew a symbol in the air, and when it finished, Sage's muscles seemed to lock up.

Finally, Weiss launched herself down, stabbing with her rapier. As she did lightning sparked along the blade.

The crash of thunder came, and the lightning lanced through Sage. It hit the Glyph, which turned yellow, before launching it back through him, eliminating him.

Blake turned her eyes back down, only to dodge a blast of electricity from Neptune.

Shifting Gambol Shroud's form, Blake used a clone to distract them, before slipping into the shadows, and loading a new cartridge.

Gripping the hilt, Blake lept down on Neptune.

Turning, Neptune shifted the gun into the guandao, which split in three, creating a trident.

Blake created another clone, flipping away from the strike, and rushed in.

Gambol Shroud bit into his chest, cutting through his jacket. Reaching behind her, Blake pulled the sheath from her back hit him again.

Pulling the trigger, the wind Dust that sat in the mag went off. Blake's clone briefly followed her movements, doubling her blows.

The second buzzer went off, but Blake took a shot from Scarlet as payment.

The pirate themed Huntsman stepped forward, only for another blow to hit him from behind.

The Glaive flew back, landing in Ruby's hand.

Her and Weiss had stepped through the grass, ready for the fight.

Blake took advantage of the opportunity presented, shifting Gambol Shroud again and firing it into Scarlet's back until the buzzer went off.

Ruby nodded in appreciation, before turning to the last member of Team SSSN.

Sun was desperately holding Yang back with his shotguns, the blonde haired fist fighter dodging every shell.

Finally, Weiss set a glyph behind him, catching him in place as he stepped back, and Yang punched him one last time.

The final buzzer went off, and the crowd started to cheer.

The team walked out of the arena, and found Teams JNPR and STQ waiting for them.

The group started to celebrate, and Blake started to slink back, only to be stopped by Ruby.

"Family's waiting Blake, you won't be getting out of it that easily."

Blake looked at her in confusion, before Summer pulled them both into a hug.

Looking over at Ruby, Blake couldn't help the smile as Ruby gave a wink in her direction.

Once Summer let them go, Blake was quickly pulled into a hug by Tai, while Qrow messed up Ruby's hair.

Blake could hear a startled yelp from Weiss as Summer gave her a hug.

The smile grew bigger as she was swept up in the celebration, and something Blake wasn't used to burned in her chest.

She had thought the White Fang was a family. She realized she was wrong now, they had been an unhealthy mess, barely kept together by Irving, and once he died, they fractured. _This_ was a family, someplace where she could be herself, where she had friends who cared about her.

Blake let herself be led away, listening to Summer's tutting as Ruby and Qrow argued about what alcohol to buy for the celebration.

-X Line Break X-

Neo span, dodging the strike from the spear. Bringing her elbow down on Dew's arm, a grin grew at the savage snapping noise.

Neo followed it up with a mighty kick to the head, sending the girl from Shade flying.

1, Time slowed, 2, and Neo plucked the spear from the air, 3, spinning, 4, she threw the spear at Gwen, 5, detonating the dust into a great tornado.

Five seconds passed and time sped back up, Neo gritted her teeth under the illusion, pain burning through the assassin.

She had spent a month trying to perfect that, and only gotten it up to five seconds, six if she was willing to risk blacking out.

The spear found its mark, digging into the knife-thrower's chest and spinning there.

Gwen was launched from the arena, eliminating her.

Neo looked over the area, checking on the rest of her 'team'.

Mercury was finishing off Gale, smashing her head into the ground.

Emerald finished Nebula with a simple shot to the head.

Cinder had a bit more trouble, being restricted to her swords lest she be pegged as the terrorist that attacked the CCT. However, she still managed to eliminate Octavia.

As the final buzzer rang, Oobleck's voice echoed out, being finally allowed into the arena.

"And there you have it! Team CMSN moves on to the doubles we will see Team RWBY face off against Team BRNZ, Team FNKI face off against TEAM CFVY, and team CRDL face Team CMSN."

Neo didn't get why they were still doing this, without the virus uploaded there was no way they could rig the matches, something she had expressed several times and not gotten a satisfying answer.

Neo was about ready to ditch town, she had enough experience to know when a job wasn't worth the trouble, and this one was turning into more of a train wreck as time went on.

Roman and Adam had both been forced to go to ground a couple weeks back after a close call with the Ebon Blade and Atlesian forces.

Neo sighed, maybe it would be smarter to turn traitor? Get a plea bargain and spend another couple of years in jail?

Or she could risk diving into the timeways.

Neo followed behind her team as they left, going over her options.

-X Line Break X-

Arthas tapped his fingers on the desk, thinking.

He would give Adam credit, he had managed to resist for a surprisingly long time.

He would attempt to reunite Adam with his Blake, it was the least Arthas could do.

Arthas knew what it was like to be alone. He had spent years in Frostmourne, reliving his mistakes.

The biggest one, Arthas had long realized, was removing his heart. With the last fragment of his humanity gone, Arthas had started to view everyone as pawns.

It was the same flaw that had seen Kil'jaeden fail repeatedly over the years. The assumption that every puppet would dance their role correctly could blow up in your face. When you got the insane, danger addicted populace of Azeroth, Draenor, and Argus involved, of which there was an almost worrying amount, it tended to end with everything going off like a mana bomb.

Another mistake was _probably_ trying to get Darion killed. In his defense, _everyone_ knew about the fact that Darion had a crush on Ruby when he was younger. Still, probably would A) still have Ruby, and B) have won, if he hadn't pitched that fit, so, his fault on that one.

Arthas sighed, looking around the empty room. He missed Kel'thuzad and Ruby's barely contained hatred for each other, Ymiron's veneration of him, Lana'thel… being Lana'thel, he wasn't sure what she had done when she wasn't making new San'layn.

He slouched on the chair, Wilt sitting where Frostmourne normally would. He kept the fragment hidden, as it was his only way to survive. If it were somehow broken, or the Ebon Blade managed to find it, then it was game over, he would be forced back into Crescent Rose, and he knew there would be no getting out from that.

Arthas looked over the papers, reports from the White Fang, important for Cinder's plan. Arthas honestly didn't buy into it, mostly because it relied on outdated information. Information that might now be worthless, especially with the Ebon Blade protecting Vale. Arthas knew how devastating the Ebon Blade Arthas knew how devastating the Ebon Blade could be, and if Khadgar was there too, the chances of this working were low.

Pulling a lighter from the desk, Arthas burned the reports. He had his plan, and it required Cinder's plan to work.

Leaning back, Arthas allowed himself to start to doze off.

He missed everything. Hopefully, he would soon have a fragment of it back.

-X Line Break X-

Ruby looked behind her as her skin cracked, knowing what would be waiting for her.

"About time you got here."

" **It isn't just you I advise, Turalyon needed assistance."**

"For a month?"

" **There was a critical battle taking place, a world of major important now stands with the Light."**

"Must be big, if the Legion fought you off for a month."

The unspoken part was that in the Great Dark Beyond, that could have been equal to anywhere from a couple day to several centuries.

" **Indeed, we hold Nihilam now, through, for how long I do not know, I may return and it will already be lost."**

"The Doom World," Ruby breathed, surprise clear, "That's big, that's huge, it's the only known world that has felt both the might of the Titans and Sargeras's direct wrath and survived. Even if they only hold it for a few days, they could learn more about Sargeras than we have in millions of years."

Ruby felt a thrum of amusement from the Naaru prime.

"What?"

" **I just find it quite amusing how much you know on the matter."**

Ruby rolled her eyes, "I don't sleep and I like to read. I finished most good fiction on Azeroth sometime around the third year I was free, after that, I had to go into the non-fiction. After a while I started to read some dissertations from big name mages and whatever Brann pumped out. Plus with the Maw of the Damned, the Knights of the Ebon Blade hold the single largest piece of Nihilam we had up to this point."

" **I am rarely too far from your mind, and some of those books were by no definition good."**

" _Those_ were good because they were so bad. It's this equation, the closer something gets to being completely terrible, the chances of it becoming unintentionally funny rises."

Xe'ra floated closer to Ruby, and the Lich's skin cracked more.

" **You had wanted to speak to me?"**

"What do you think about this whole mess?"

" **You want my input?"**

"Yeah, I trust you. You've never given me a reason not to."

" **It is foolish."**

"That bad?"

" **Ever since my first Void phase, I have championed the belief that we need a balance between Light and Void. It has been a platform that has been controversial among my family, and they often ignore me because of it."**

"That doesn't explain why you think this is foolish."

" **Because I believe, that no matter what role you play, be it Life-Binder, or Lich Queen, or something else, you will do the right thing. Look at Lothraxion, he is a being of the Twisted Nether, yet he has become one of the greatest Paladins in the Army of the Light."**

"I don't think I'm going to become a Paladin. I can still barely control the silver flames."

Another thrum of amusement.

" **There is little chance you will use Light at this point, I agree. My point, is that even a being of the Twisted Nether, or, dare I say it, the Void, can be just as good as someone born in the Light."**

"Then what do you think I should do?"

" **Wait. Think carefully on this choice, and know that no person can force you to make it,"** Xe'ra started to lift off, **"I must go now, I will see you later."**

Ruby watched the being of Light fly off, before sighing and walking back inside. She would be going on to the doubles round, and she wanted to prepare.

-X Line Break X-

 _Darion looked around Ruby's workshop. A body lay on the table, and it was clear Ruby was putting it back together._

" _Who's that?"_

 _Ruby looked up from where she was hunched over her scythe, examining it._

" _Oh, that's Aggra, we lost her on Outland a few months back. I've been meaning to put her back together, but didn't have time until recently."_

 _Darion raised one of the hands off the metal slab, before letting it drop._

" _She, uh, doesn't look so good."_

" _Yeah, she probably won't be able to work as a Death Knight, but a ghoul or wight maybe."_

" _Right, you wanted to talk to me?"_

 _Ruby stood and walked over to him, cupping his face with her hands._

" _Darion, I'm so proud of you right now. Today, you will be taking on your first mission for the Scourge."_

" _And that is?"_

" _Despite the show we put on at New Avalon, the Scarlet Crusade has decided to send more troops from Hearthglen and Tyr's Hand. The Silver Hand is also causing us problems, so I want you to eliminate two birds with one stone._

 _You are too take a small force to Hearthglen, decimate the Scarlet Crusade there, and destroy the gravestone of Taelan Fordring."_

" _Destroy? Not raise him?"_

" _We're sending a message Darion, we don't want to risk provoking Tirion Fordring into a fight until we are ready."_

" _Ok. You said a small force?"_

" _Yes, while you will be in charge of this mission, and there will be several other new recruits, we're sending some of the most experienced troops we have on Acherus with you."_

 _Darion took the page of parchment, looking it over, "Velann Darkfall, Malag, Gayle Hateford, Totua Suncaller, Orbaz Bloodbane, Koltira Deathweaver, and Thassarian."_

" _Three who specialize in taking hits, and the rest should be able to damage the forces. Plus," Ruby walked over to another table, pulling a sheet from off it._

 _It looked like a miniaturized flesh golem, standing about even with Darion's chest._

" _A couple of these!"_

" _Will they be helpful?"_

" _Yeah, about as strong as a Tauren with the size of a human. What's not to love?"_

 _Darion nodded, "When are we going out?"_

" _Just need to introduce you to your teammates. Come on."_

 _Ruby stepped out of the room, leading Darion down the winding paths of Acherus._

 _Stepping into the room, Darion looked around._

 _A Blood Elf and Human stood off to the side, talking amicably, they stopped briefly, nodding to Ruby as she walked forward._

 _Another human stood to the other side, glaring at everyone._

 _The final four, a Blood Elf, Draenei, Forsaken, and Tauren, sat around the room, all in different levels of worry._

 _Ruby stepped up, walking to the map of Lordaeron on the wall, and jabbing a finger into Hearthglen's location._

" _I want you to come back with this place destroyed, or don't bother coming back at all."_

" _It will be done."_

 _Ruby nodded, "Good, now, everyone follow me."_

 _Yet another set of winding corridors, and they stood in the stables, hundreds of undead horses and Deathchargers waited around the area._

" _Deathlord! Are these the new recruits you spoke of?" The question came from a figure, clad in armor, and his head swathed in red fabric, only allowing two glowing green eyes to poke out._

" _Indeed they are Salanar."_

" _Right, Thassarian, Koltira, Dusk and Bloodmist are saddled up, you know where they are. Orbaz, your horse is waiting for you."_

 _The three experienced Death Knights walked off, Orbaz throwing a final sneer over his shoulder as they left._

 _Salanar muttered to himself bitterly, and Darion strained his ears to hear what he was saying._

" _Brute refuses to name it himself, but won't let me name it either. He won't even let me saddle it for him."_

 _Ruby threw an understanding look at Salanar, before coughing into her hand._

" _Right! The rest of you, LINE UP!"_

 _The last bit came as a roar, sending the five of them scampering into line._

 _Salanar walked along the five, taking them in. When the horseman reached Darion, he called upon his lessons from Thorval._

 _He didn't waver as they met eyes._

 _A long moment passed, before the red clad figure rose up._

" _You four! You're not ready yet. Take some of the skeletal chargers and go!" The other four rushed off, and Salanar met his eyes again._

" _You, though, yes, I think I have the perfect horse for you. Tell me, what is your name?"_

" _Darion Mograine."_

 _Salanar shared a look with Ruby, who nodded curtly. What was that about?_

" _Then, yes, I have the perfect mount for you. Follow me."_

 _Darion was brought to the back of the room, where a Deathcharger waited._

 _It's hair, and armor had a reddish tint to it, and it was larger than most of the other Chargers around it._

" _I have raised this horse from the finest stock, I call it Fury! Tell me, Darion Mograine, do you have the power to control this horse?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Then let us see."_

 _Darion stepped forward reaching for the reins. When he touched them, a presence touched his mind. Curious at first it quickly whipped itself into a fever of rage._

 _Darion drew on his training in the Light, using the same principles of controlling himself to calm the presence._

 _After a moment, Darion shackled it to his will._

 _Salanar was looking between Darion and Fury._

" _So it is done. Do you wish to give him a new name? He is yours now."_

 _Darion thought for a second, before nodding, "Iydallus."_

 _So began a long, prosperous bond._

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Radulf drove his axe through the throat of the horse, at the same time, Tal executed his rider._

" _I thought you said the Dark Riders had gone missing?_

" _I guess dere was a survivor, we dealt with him, mon."_

 _Yes, but at what cost? Two of the ten man team had died getting here._

 _Radulf wouldn't ditch Tal, he was enjoying the fight, but it was simple math. They would run out of people rather quickly. Especially if, as Mitnus suspected, the traps and dangers got worse as they got higher. There were only a few people greedy or stupid enough to assault the home of the Guardian of Tirisfal._

 _Seriously, what had Tal been thinking? She could probably have gotten money easier attacking Ahn'Qiraj again, he heard Cho'gall had set up shop there for a bit._

 _Stepping into the next room, Radulf shared a look with his conspirator._

 _All over the room were ghosts, throwing a decadent party._

 _Well, looks like there might actually be money in this for Tal. Assuming they survived._

 _Radulf drew his axes, spinning himself into a tempest of blades. Hopefully they would be able to kill most of the ghosts without any casualties on their side._

 _He doubted it though…_

-X Line Break X-

 _Tal delivered a fatal shot with her beloved flintlock. Looking around the library, Mitnus, bless her little soul, was engrossed in several books around them, shoving them into a bag, while using her magic to keep another floating in front of her._

 _Despite the worries Radulf had expressed, they had managed to make it rather high into the tower without another casualty._

 _The berserker was off to the side… reading a book?_

" _Whatcha readin', mon?"_

 _Radulf held up the book, allowing her to see the title._

' _Forging techniques from Navane.'_

" _You are da most borin' person on da face o da world, brudda."_

 _Tal had known him for a year, and she was convinced that Radulf didn't have a single interest that didn't revolve around fighting and getting better at it._

 _It said something about him that he had just shrugged and returned to reading._

 _The rest of the crew was getting antsy, wanting to delve deeper into the tower. Tal rolled her eyes, this was why she normally worked with professionals, they could make a killing selling these books to the Kirin Tor._

 _The amount of money she was talking at could let her buy a fleet of ships, the best weapons money could buy, and still have enough money to comfortably retire to one of the islands in the Great Sea._

 _Unfortunately these lug heads didn't understand it, if you didn't shove literal piles of gold into their face, they felt it was wasted._

 _It was times like this that Tal lamented how few freelance mages there were. Warlocks? There were plenty of those, but after the Incident on Hiji, Tal refused to work with them._

" _Lil' one, we should go."_

 _Mitnus didn't respond, not even reacting to the hated nickname._

 _Tal walked to her partner, looking down._

" _What's wrong?"_

 _Mitnus was staring at a page of another book. Plucking the book from Mitnus's numb hands, and ignoring the startled yelp from the Gnome, Tal flicked to the beginning._

" _Da Prophecies o' Velen the Divine? Ain't dat da leader o' da Draenei?"_

 _Tal didn't actually have the accent, she had lived with humans long enough that she could speak fluent Common with nary a slip up, but she maintained it, her last fragment of home._

 _Flicking through the pages back to where Mitnus has been, Tal caught glimpses of words._

 _Silvery moon, washed in blood-_

 _After the red comes the silver,  
She who was golden and bright;_

 _Stopping on the page before Mitnus had been on, Tal read the inscription._

 _All that is gold does not glitter,  
Not all those who wander are lost;  
The old that is strong does not wither,  
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.  
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,  
A light from the shadows shall spring;  
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,  
The crownless again shall be king_

 _Turning the page, Tal stopped._

 _There was a beautiful drawing taking up both pages._

 _It was a collection of people from all races, all holding the most amazing weapons she had ever seen._

 _Staff and spear, ax and sword, hammer and knife, even a floating skull and scythe. What jarred her however, was that Tal recognized some of the people there. Radulf, Mitnus and her brother. The Tauren druid she had worked with during Ahn'Qiraj._

 _What did that mean? And perhaps most worrying, why wasn't she there?_

 _Tal shook her head, storing the book in her jacket._

 _She would have to sail to the Exodar when this was done, ask the Prophet about it._


	19. Chapter 19

" _Madness has brought you here to me. I shall be your undoing!"_

 _Radulf looked over at Tal._

" _Don't say it, mon."_

" _Tal-"_

" _Don't say it, mon, I know."_

" _That's an Eredar."_

" _I know that, mon."_

" _At what point did any of us sign up to fight an Eredar?"_

" _I didn't know, mon."_

 _Radulf tightened his hold on the axes._

" _Well, it's too late now."_

 _The remaining eight members nodded, before getting ready to attack._

" _All realities, all dimensions are open to me!"_

 _Radulf looked up, before diving out of the way with the rest of the group._

 _A meteor smashed into the top of Karazhan, before unfolding into an infernal. The party rapidly spread out as it unleashed wave after wave of fire._

 _The party fought against the Eredar, dodging more infernals as they came. Radulf started to grin, a non existent heartbeat rumbling behind him._

" _Simple fools! Time is the fire in which you'll burn!"_

 _Then the Eredar raised his hand, and it was gone._

 _Radulf felt as if his axes weighed a hundred pounds. He was barely able to to dodge out of the way of the next nova. Two of the others didn't, and were incinerated by fire._

 _There was no way they could win this. He was too strong. There was no way-_

 _It came rushing back, and Radulf shook his head, clearing it of the pessimistic thoughts._

 _The undead charged, smashing his axe into the side of the Eredar. It did a disproportionately small amount of damage._

 _The cycle continued, Radulf and the remaining members would freeze in fear, and they would lose at least one._

" _How can you hope to withstand such overwhelming power?"_

 _The Eredar reached into a portal, pulling an axe from it._

 _The shield bearer stepped up, facing down Malchezaar._

 _He deflected blow after blow, while Tal, Radulf and Mitnus rained damage on the Eredar._

 _Then, the axe struck shield, and the shield shattered. The mercenary sank to his knees, and was swiftly decapitated._

 _The Eredar turned to them, speaking._

" _Your greed, your foolishness has brought you to this end."_

 _Tal flinched, shock obvious. That wouldn't do._

 _Radulf stepped forward, throwing one of his axes into the air and catching it like it wasn't made for two hands._

" _Go."_

" _What!?"_

" _I said," blood pumped, Radulf wasn't afraid, he would die, but the last thing he would feel was being_ _ **alive**_ _, "go."_

 _Radulf heard Mitnus grab onto Tal's leg, teleporting them out of there._

" _Surely you do not think you could win?"_

" _Let us see, shall we?"_

 _Radulf went low, dragging his axes across the ground as he charged at Malchezaar._

 _An eerie laugh sounded across the void at the top of the rook, axe smashed into axe, and then, silence._

-X Line Break X-

Braun placed down the glass of fine wine, sighing. Pinching his nose, he reached over and hit the speaker for his secretary.

"Mr. Schnee?"

"Clancy Winchester is being laid off."

"Yes, sir. Shall I give him the normal severance package?"

"Board member level."

"Yes, sir."

Braun leaned back. He would be sad to see Clancy go, he had been with Braun since the CEO had seized control of the SDC from his father thirty years before. However, both Braun and Clancy knew the price of failure.

Clancy had assured Braun that his son would beat Jaune Arc, a message to Weiss, alongside tightening the supply of Dust flowing into Vale. That had been a failure, so Clancy needed to be cut loose.

However, with the severance package Braun had afforded him, Clancy would never want for anything again.

Leaning back, Braun lit a cigar, going over the information his men had gathered. Ruby Rose was the Highlord of the Knights of the Ebon Blade. She appeared to be able to sway Ozpin and Ironwood. Not good, but not the worst. As evident by the fight that had taken place, Braun had a good deal of power with the Councils.

Yang Xiao Long was Ruby Rose's sister, she had several D.U.I charges on record and one suspected assault for an incident at a club in late August of last year. Other than that, nothing special.

Then there was Blake Belladonna. Faunus, worked with the White Fang in the past. Suspect in several raids on the SDC in the past.

He could reveal this to the public, but, as James had said, the Knights of the Ebon Blade were heroes at the moment. Everyone who had fought in the raid on Vale were. He wasn't likely to get the charges to stick if he tried.

So that left applying pressure to Weiss to force her to come back.

Braun wasn't too worried, Weiss was incapable of fighting without Dust, he had made sure her trainers taught her from the top down to fight with Dust. She wasn't even capable of summoning yet, like Winter had when she rebelled. Nor did she have the backing of an organization that had access to Dust. It would be a matter of time before she came running back to the family, and Braun would tighten the leash.

He would let her stay in Vale, but tighten her allowance. He would insist on weekly calls, and a guard at all times. There would be no way for Weiss to rebel again.

Turning the screen back on, Braun watched his younger daughter's fight.

 _Experienced fighter_ , Braun noted, she carried herself like his father had. Braun's father had been a veteran in the Faunus civil war, somehow, despite that he had empathized with the beasts.

 _The mongrel from the opposing team from easy going Vacuo acts friendly and waves. Braun felt some disgust that his daughter is associating with such scum._

 _Shakes hands, grip is just tight enough to establish strength without being painful. This wasn't a Huntress, it was a soldier, born and breed._

 _Immediately aims for the head, doesn't expect it to hit, but wants it to do maximum damage if it does._

 _Divides the teams, neither side wants to cross for risk of the other side having traps_ , Braun filled the information away, calling up a second screen to see both halves.

The CEO watched the fight, keeping an eye on both halves.

 _Immediately eliminate the strongest member, electricity to stop her from retaliating. Prior knowledge of fighting style, or just luck?_

 _Hesitates before the shot. Death on record caused trauma?_

 _Uses basic Glyphs to slow him. Conserves Dust. Damnnit._

 _The Faunus can become an animal, how fitting._

 _Timed that shot perfectly, spacial recognition is top notch. Must have used the sound of electricity to know where he was._

 _Reuses energy to conserve more Dust. Knows that she's running low._

 _Uses wind Dust. Agility is key trait. Augments her combat abilities with those skills. Doesn't hesitate this time. Worried about headshots._

 _Continuous use of basic Glyphs._

Braun buried the butt of his cigar in the ashtray. Watching them step into the room where others were waiting.

 _Not used to affection. Orphan? Abuse?_

 _Pulls Weiss into a hug. Doesn't care who she's related to. This is her family as far as they care._

 _Talk of alcohol. Braun agreed with the girl. Whiskey over beer._

Braun would have to find some way to use what he had learned to his advantage.

Lighting another Cigar, Braun pulled some paperwork towards him, he had to find where to ship the surplus Dust that would normally go to Vale.

-X Line Break X-

Radulf worked his jaw. By Odyn's flaming beard, even after two year, it was nice to have that back, and his left arm, and right eye, and-

Ok. So maybe there was a reason he got promoted to High Executor and then sidelined prior to the Cataclysm beyond Sylvanas creating an echo chamber of loyal supporters. It wasn't his fault though, he didn't have the money to waste repairing his body when he could be repairing his armor and weapons! …Yeah, he didn't believe that either.

Picking up the Warswords of the Valarjar, Radulf headed to the mead hall. Passing by some of the Vrykul, he saw Ymiron gesture rudely at a new member who got too close, a string of expletives booming throughout Skyhold.

It had almost become a new hazing ritual, new members of the Valarjar had to provoke the bound king into a response. Nice, because that was really easy to do. Being too close to the Dragonflayer could see him launch into truly epic poetry of what he would do with your bowels after he tore them out of your gut. All with enough cursing to leave the most hardened sailor in awe.

Grabbing a flagon, Radulf started to walk to one of the endless casks. Where did those come from? Were there people working behind the scenes to make sure the drinks and meat never ran out?

Shrugging, the undead grabbed a leg of mutton, nodding at Dvalen.

Radulf leaned against one of the tables, washing down the chewy meat with a swig of mead, watching as one of the Val'kyr flew to Odyn.

The Prime Designate nodded, rising from his throne. The stormforged grew silent, watching their leader.

"Valarjar. Once again, our allies call for us. The sorcerer, Khadgar, has found another world-soul being corrupted by the taint of the Old Gods."

The glowing eye of Odyn roamed the room.

"I know there has been worry about the revelation that the Pantheon is dead. This does not matter. We are not Ra. We will not let this break us. We shall continue to fight, if not for the Pantheon themselves, then for the ideals they held. That every world deserved the right to fight for their chance to live.

Not only are the Knights of the Ebon Blade already there," Radulf saw Donovan perk up, and rolled his eyes, "but forces of the Tirisgarde, Council of the Black Harvest, and Order of the Broken Temple shall be assisting in the first push this combined effort."

Radulf's eyebrows hiked up, Mitnus and her brother were willing to work on something together? He knew they had started to mend bridges, but this must have been big.

"It is paramount that all worlds are ready to stand together in defiance of the Legion and Void. We may not know the people of this world, but I believe that a day may come where you stand beside them, blade in hand, for a new dawn. One free of Sargeras, so that we may turn our blades to the greater threats. The Void Lords, who use him as a puppet on their campaign to destroy all worlds."

Heavy boots tramped across the stone floors, and everyone stared.

Ymiron has broken from his constant vigil over the training pits. Head inclined to look up at the giant leader of the Valajar.

"You said that the Death Knights of Acherus were there."

"Yes."

"Ruby Rose still leads them." These weren't questions.

"Yes."

"Then I will help. Not for you, who bound me to serve. Not for your precious Titans, who abandoned my people. I will help her, because it is what I believe my god would have wanted, to see her safe now that he is gone."

"Better a completely selfish reason, than to refuse all together. Very well. Battlelord Skullweeper, you shall lead the Val'kyr and Valarjar on this march."

"My Lord," Donovan spoke out, "Please, allow me to lead these forces."

Dvalen and Radulf shared a look. What was wrong with Donovan's head that he didn't recognize that Ruby didn't just not reciprocate his feelings, she actively hated him?

"No. Donovan, I need your help to plan the logistics of this."

That, was a bullshit excuse if Radulf had heard of one. They would probably be under Khadgar's control again. A neutral party who didn't care about the remaining racial tensions.

"My Lord, please. The last time Ruby and I spoke, violent threats were exchanged. I want to speak with her before the bridges get too damaged."

Radulf choked on his mead, and Thorim smashed his fist into the berserker's back.

Holy shit, was Donovan really that oblivious? There weren't bridges to be mended, they had never existed in the first place.

From day one, Ruby had been politely distant at best. His constant hounding of Ruby had only replaced that with open hostility. _Everyone_ was aware of this. Khadgar had planned entire raids around keeping Ruby and Donovan as far away from each other as physically possible.

Everyone, except Donovan himself apparently.

Odyn made a gesture above his champion's head, pointing to Radulf, Ymiron and a collection of Valarjar and Val'kyr, before pointing out of the mead hall.

Getting the point, they all slipped out, heading for the leap point.

Best to get going before Donovan realized they were gone.

-X Line Break X-

Khadgar sighed, looking over the map.

Too many places, and not enough time. Hundreds of miles of unexplored territory. Ironically, the same excuse Ruby had used was now biting them in the ass.

The Old Gods could be anywhere, as could the titan facility.

That was the main goal. While the Titan forged must have contracted an equivalent to the Curse of Flesh, there might be a map of where they locked away the Old Gods.

With it, they could gain so much information. How many there were. Where they were. What they held dominance over.

There was so much to decide. Where to build a more permanent base? The one they had on Menagerie couldn't last. It was too isolated, no easy supply lanes, and portals were hard to maintain.

Who to lead the efforts? He would select Ruby, she had the greatest knowledge of Remnant and was skilled in logistics after years acting as the Scourge's vanguard, but he wanted to respect his friend's attempt at a semi retirement for at least a little longer. He was sure something would come to pull her out of it, they always did, but until then, they needed someone to lead.

Khadgar didn't want to be in charge of this one. This wasn't Azeroth, or even Draenor. Khadgar knew the political history of his home planet like the back of his hand. Played a role in shaping it. He didn't have that advantage on Remnant. So who to put in charge until Ruby was ready?

Khadgar sighed, looking back at the map.

Radulf was out. He was the type who could only lead from the front, rallying his soldier from goal to goal.

Mitnus was used to logistical problems, having kept one of the biggest fleets on Azeroth together. Her problems with her brother, however, eliminated them both from the running.

Then there was the Grandmaster. He, or she, might have been a good choice. If they existed.

The Order was lead by committee. If they had changed that at some point, they hadn't bothered to inform him.

Khadgar sighed. Looks like he was playing this one by ear like it was Shattrath. Hopefully he wouldn't accidentally do anything too stupid until whatever the newest threat was got off its ass and got Ruby moving.

-X Line Break X-

Blake watched Ruby. The flames danced on her knuckles, granting the unhealthy pallor a green tint.

It was late, and the other two members of Team RWBY had long since fallen asleep. Blake, ironically, wasn't capable of sleeping at the moment. Worry, and Luperca prowling around the edges of the Heart, had made going into the Dreaming impossible.

Blake had followed Ruby up onto the roof, keeping to the shadows. Listened to the conversation there.

It was… strange, that she had been capable of understanding what the wind chime like form had been saying. Something told her that, despite not doing anything to draw attention to it, the being had known she was there. Had allowed her privy into the discussion that took place.

Questions raced around her head. Turalyon? Legion? Nihilam? Titans? The Twisted Nether and Void?

One of them, Blake recognized from Malfurion's writings. The Rift of Aln touched the Twisted Nether.

But the most worrying part, was the discussion of Ruby's role.

Life-Binder. It was a title Blake recognized from the journal. Cenarius had mentioned someone with that title to Malfurion. Alexstrasza, The queen of dragons.

Lich Queen. Someone, they hadn't said who, thought Ruby might take Arthas's place. To rule the Scourge. The very thought sickened Blake, not helped by the subtle presence of the Guardian.

How long had Ruby known this, but kept it a secret? And why? Did it eat at her? And why didn't Blake confront her about it?

Oh, right, because she was a damn coward.

Blake was broken from her thoughts as Ruby raised her hand.

The tattoos across it glowed dully, dragging a green mist from the fire, causing it to become a more natural red.

Ruby's eyes closed, and when the lids snapped open, they glowed even brighter. Blake saw Weiss roll over, the light irritating her.

The flames in Ruby's hand changes, turning silver. Ruby manipulated the flames, changing their shape. Nothing as complicated as her normal control.

Then she paused.

The light in her eyes slowly darkened, along with the flames.

Ruby's eyes stopped shining silver, slipping into gunmetal grey, and going further. The flames followed suit, growing darker.

Blake felt her stomach drop. She heard Yang whimper in her sleep, begging for a name. Weiss tossed and turned in her bed.

Shadows gathered in the corner of Blake's eyes. A guard, wearing a SDC uniform, a hole gaping through one eye.

Adam. Wilt stained with blood. Everyone she had come to care about spread out in a semi-circle. Only possessions of theirs allowed their bodies to be identified. Myrtenaster stood like a twisted monument from Weiss's chest. StormFlower sat in Ren's eyes.

Adam unfolded Crescent Rose, placing a foot on it, he pushed down.

The grey blade snapped, and Ruby's corpse convulsed. Blake could hear her pulse pounding in horror, and anger.

 _Caress your fear. Voice your doubts. Embrace your rage. Gorge your hatred._

Blake's hand fumbled out, looking for Gambol Shroud. She would kill him, She Would Kill Him. _SHE WOULD KILL HIM!_

Then something broke through the haze of hatred.

 **STOP HER!** the Guardian roared in Blake's head, and the world tinted green, **Punch her, hug her, I don't care what it takes, STOP HER NOW!**

Blake sprang from her bed, hand closing around Ruby's wrist, Blake caught sight of Ruby's eyes for a moment.

They had pupils in them, for once. Pinpricks of white in a sea of pitch black. They gave the impression that Ruby was less looking at Blake, and looking through her, into her soul, laying bear every secret Blake had.

Then Blake pulled the taller girl into a hug.

The flames hung in the air. Black and purple.

Despite Blake touching them, they didn't burn, instead, the hallucinations came back.

Blake could see the guard standing behind Ruby, mouthing something.

 _It WAS your fault._

Behind her came a sickening noise, like a blade on meat. She wouldn't turn to face it, because she knew what she would find.

Time seemed to freeze for a second. Then Ruby jolted.

The flames disappeared, and the ghosts with them. Blake felt Ruby tense in her arms.

"Blake? What-"

"Never do that again. Promise me."

"What even happened? I don't-"

"It doesn't matter," Blake cut Ruby off, "Just, never do that again. Please. _Please_."

Blake wasn't ashamed to beg, nor was she ashamed of the hot tears sliding down her face and onto Ruby's shoulder.

 _What was that?_ It had been like every negative feeling she had boiled up. Blake heard Yang and Weiss settle down, whatever they had felt had faded.

"Blake, can you let go-"

"No," it was childish, but Blake didn't want to break the hold she had. What if she turned around and Adam was still there, the hallucinations having only pretended to disappear?

Ruby sighed, before enveloping Blake in a hug. Gunsmoke and rot. Two scents that had no right to be comforting, but were, because they were indicative of Ruby.

They stayed like that for a while.

-X Line Break X-

"Jumps nearly done! We need to lose them now!"

"Tell me something I don't know!"

Vandel caught the giant hoop-like blade the now demonic Warden used on the edges of the Aldrachi Warblades. The Demon Hunter sneered. Look at this, one of the _Wardens_ , a holier-than-thou Warden, who locked up his brethren for years, had become a Demon.

She hadn't earned that power. Vandel, Kor'vas, Altruis, they had bleed for their power. Lost almost everything, cast aside what little remained. Torn the Fel corrupted heart out of the chest of a demon and eaten it. Clawed out their eyes in horror of the visions that came with it.

If Vandel had to explain it to the uninitiated, those who only knew Fel as a corruptor, he would explain it like dancing on the edge of a cliff. One wrong move and you went plummeting off the edge.

Cordana hadn't faced that. She had been gifted this power, going right over the edge into demonhood.

Cyana came from behind, swinging for his spine. The scales that had grown during his training blocked the glaive. The Fel infused keratin held strong.

Jace was right. They needed to lose the duo before they left the Nether. If they did, then there would be no way to find them. They could plan, and recruit from the native population.

If they didn't, however, they would be leading the Burning Legion right to this world's door.

Akama dug the kama he used into Cyana's back. As she turned to face the Broken, Vandel followed up.

Delivering a right hook to her skull, Vandel followed it with a swing to the back.

The blade's cut through her flesh easily, and Vandel threw her over the side.

The Slayer cursed, however, as she threw her glaive, glowing with Fel, into one of the engines. Even as she dissolved in the winds of the Twisted Nether, Vandel heard her laugh.

The explosion shook the Fel Hammer, throwing everyone around.

"Jace!?"

"We can make it! Focus on dealing with Cordana!"

The fallen Warden was holding off Belial and Altruis. Nodding to Akama, Vandel charged with the Broken Shaman.

As he went along, Vandel tapped into something deep inside. Spikes grew along his body, his feet because cloven, and claws grew from his fingers.

The Metamorphosed Slayer struck Cordana with the force of a train, smashing her in between his body and the balcony.

The warden cursed, before disappearing in a flash of green.

"They're gone."

"That's good, now I hate to ruin it-"

"Get it over with, Jace."

"The good news is we'll finish the jump. The bad news is the engines will probably give out right after."

"So, we're crashing."

"Yeah."

Vandel sighed, no surprise there.

The Fel Hammer finished its jump, before slowly drifting downwards towards a cement covered field.

"I thought you said the engine-"

Then the ship plummeted from the sky.

"-There we go."

Gripping the balcony, Vandel waited for the crash.

It was one of those days.

-X Line Break X-

 _Finkmink was curled over a tome, reading the Orcish._

 _He knew,_ _ **knew**_ _that coming to Outland would have a boon, and look what he had found!_

 _The journal of Teron Gorefiend! The black secrets in the book would help him greatly._

 _Despite what his sister thought, learning Fel magic didn't involve hanging out with Succubi constantly. A good warlock (and Finkmink did think of himself as such) had to constantly shun the easiest root to power. If you didn't, you were damning yourself to a fate worse than death._

 _Warlocks like Finkmink understood the importance of balance. Use the Fel too much, and you were asking for a host of side effects, use it too little, and you might as well call yourself a mage, at least then you got the benefits of the Kirin Tor._

 _Finkmink preferred to use Fel to fudge the numbers, letting him get out spells a bit faster than a mage._

 _But this, oh baby, this. There was so much Fel knowledge in this tome that Finkmink could feel it radiating from it._

 _It was one of the reasons Finkmink would insist that Fel was more difficult than arcane. There was no institution in place to teach Fel magic. Every Warlock was trying to figure it out themselves. Tomes on Fel knowledge were rare and hoarded by those who had them._

 _A group that Finkmink was now comfortably a member of. The gnome flipped pages, eyes glowing red as he took in the black arts._

 _Oh, was it a good day to be Finkmink Tinkfuse._

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Nalores rode on her charger, heading for Uther's tomb. It would be nice to get some rest._

 _The dwarf would have taken the worst inn in Ironforge right now. She had gotten back from Outland four days ago, and had been riding almost nonstop._

 _She had hit the eastern Plaguelands yesterday morning. Dodging Scarlet Crusade and Scourge patrols._

 _There seemed to be more of both since she had gotten back, more than there had been when they attacked Kel'thuzad._

 _The dead trees blocked the sun from reaching the plague tainted ground._

 _Turning, Nalores headed to the one place that wasn't blighted. Riding up the hill, Nalores waited for the guards to see her._

 _None came._

 _Frowning, the Argent Paladin rode further up._

 _Her eyes immediately locked onto the pile of bones._

 _Jumping down, Nalores picked up one._

 _Blight. The bones were blighted._

 _Jumping up, Nalores ran towards the tomb._

 _Bodies sat on the steps, rot already clear. A pack of blight hounds rested, chewing on the meat from one of the corpses._

 _Nalores unleashed the Light upon the beasts, leaving nothing but ash in her rage._

" _No, No, No, No!"_

 _Running further into the tomb, Nalores came to the entrance of the burial chamber._

 _It was smashed in. Running into the room, Nalores felt her pulse in her throat. Wasn't killing him enough? Subverted his daughter? Had they dragged him back to serve them too?_

 _Nalores grabbed a stool, allowing her to see the top of the sarcophagus. It had been moved._

 _Bracing herself for the worse, the dwarf moved the lid._

 _He was still here. Nalores fell back, nervous laughter spilling forth. Thank the Light he was still there! The idea of having to fight a Scourged Lightbringer horrified her. Would have horrified any true blooded Paladin, but it didn't matter because he was still there!_

 _Then she stopped. He was still there. So what was this all about? Did the Scourge really kill the guards, break into the tomb, and open his resting place for nothing?_

 _Breathing in, Nalores moved his Shroud._

 _His mantle was gone, as was his hammer._

 _A startled oath, and Nalores moved the shroud and lid into place._

 _Rushing out of the tomb, Nalores jumped onto her horse and rode. She rode as long and far as the horse would let her, and when it tired, left it._

 _She had to get to Light's Hope, had to warn Highlord Tyrosus. Items of Light could be corrupted, and there was little more holy than anything Uther used._

 _Nalores burned anything that got too close with Light._

 _Finally, after the most frantic twelve hours of Nalores's life, Light's Hope came into view, and even more worry grasped her heart._

 _Half built fortifications stood around her home, and she could see members of the Scourge get uncomfortably close to it._

 _Nalores refused to slow down, even as her body cried in protest._

 _Luckily, someone saw her, and rode out on their horse._

 _Taking the orc's hand, Nalores rode behind him._

" _What has got you so worried?"_

" _I'll explain later, I need to see Highlord Tyrosus now."_

 _Nodding, the orc hurried his horse along._

 _Stopping before the chapel itself, Nalores took a brief moment to compose herself before walking in._

" _Highlord Tyrosus!"_

" _Sister Goldfist, what is it?"_

" _Uther's tomb, the Scourge attacked it, killed the guards, stole his hammer! We need to attack now!"_

 _Tyrosus looked at her, before gesturing for her to follow him._

 _Stopping outside the chapel, Tyrosus pointed to the sky._

 _Nalores looked up, only to gasp as she noticed something she had missed before in her rush._

 _Two Necropoli sat above her, one had the distinct outline of Naxxramas, but the other, was bigger. Undead Gryphons flew around them both._

" _What?"_

" _Acherus, they call it. They've gathered the bodies of our brothers on it and are raising them to wipe us out."_

" _Then why are we standing here!? We should be attacking them now!"_

 _Tyrosus shook his head, "Arthas is there, we would die."_

" _Then what do we do?"_

" _We build up our defenses while they are focused on the Scarlet Crusade. Then we take as many down with us when they come. Come, you need to rest."_

 _Nalores let the fatherly hand of Maxwell Tyrosus lead her to one of the beds, worry eating at her._

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Tal sat in one of the burned down houses around Karazhan, staring at the book._

 _How? He was right there. He should be here._

 _Mitnus was brewing some coffee with the remains of the beans they had packed, using a copper kettle she had found in one of the other houses._

 _Tal was the one who wasn't in this picture,_ _ **she**_ _should be missing._

" _Tal."_

 _The Troll looked up, and Mitnus pushed a cup into her hands._

" _Drink."_

 _Tal brought the coffee up to her mouth. Strong, just the way she liked it._

 _Of course it was. Her Lil' One always made the best coffee._

 _Tal continued to look at the picture. Was the artist wrong? Did the prophecy not have anything to do with them? If so, how did they know what Radulf and Mitnus looked like so perfectly?_

 _Mitnus busied herself skinning a rabbit. This wasn't a sponsored raid, so they had to make do with what they had found._

 _And it had all been for nothing. They didn't find much gold. The books they had grabbed might fetch some money, but only enough to keep them in business for another month._

 _And Tal had lost a friend._

 _The Troll had grown up ostracized from her people. Her father would guide humans through the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale in return of food._

 _Traitor, they had called him. Nobody wanted to be friends with the traitor's daughter._

 _Tal had grown up alone. She would never be Tal'jin, or, Loa forbid, Zul'Tal. She wouldn't even be Tal'fon, because it wasn't a choice. Even as her peers gained titles, and their names grew, she was just Tal._

 _Then, one day, Drake Nottley came along._

 _The pirate was small, old and greying. But he could fight with the best of them. He had killed three of the tribes best._

 _He had an opening in his crew, and when Tal had begged him, he had allowed her onto his ship._

 _She missed that ship. The crew had mocked her as a savage. But there, Tal had been allowed to give as good as she got. Insults had been a way of showing affection._

 _Then Drake died one night in his sleep. It might have been poison, might have been alcohol, or maybe the old sea dog had beaten the odds and actually died of old age._

 _The crew stayed together long enough to divide up the money and burn Drake with his ship. One member had been kind enough to point her to Plunder Isle._

 _The Troll had spent years on the isle, acting as a pawn in the grand game of blood that took place on the pirate capital, gathering enough money to buy her first ship._

 _Through it all, Tal had never had a friend. Didn't want to risk having to put them down if they got too high in one of the other organizations._

 _Tal had bought her first ship, and sailed off. The troll had beaten the odds. She had gained a title._

 _Capn'Tal. She was the only one who referred to herself as such, everyone thought she was saying two words, but that didn't matter. She had a title. She wasn't just Tal anymore. Even now it brought a smile to her face._

 _She had taken on mercenary work, before running into the Darkspears. There, she had been directed to Orgrimmar, where she had signed on as a privateer._

 _Months had past, and she went to Ahn'Qiraj, where she had met her first two friends._

 _Mitnus, who Tal was certain wouldn't leave her when the rest of the crew did, and Radulf._

 _And now one of them was dead, and it was her fault._

 _Tal threw the cooling cup of coffee at the wall, anger flowing through her._

" _Capn. It's not your fault. Radulf knew there would be danger in there, no one could have predicted there would be an Eredar at the top."_

" _She's right, you know," the voice came out like gravel._

 _Tal's head snapped to the side._

 _Radulf was picking his way through the broken wood. Smoke rose from where his left arm had been. A cut in his throat made it clear why his voice sounded different._

" _You look like you've seen a ghost."_

 _In his other hand was the axe the Eredar had used, and a bag._

" _How did you survive?"_

" _Say what you will about Arthas, but he built us to last."_

 _Radulf dropped the bag on the table, where it made a distinct noise._

 _Opening it, Tal looked at the gold._

" _That should be enough to keep you in business for a while right?"_

 _The troll nodded, dumbstruck._

" _Best part? You only need to split it two ways. I'll be taking this," Radulf raised the axe, "as my payment, and everyone else is dead."_

 _Tal chuckled._

 _And that's how the Violet Eye found an undead, troll, and gnome sitting around a table, waiting for a rabbit to finish cooking._

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Darion stopped Iydallus, holding his hand up._

" _Why have we stopped?" Orbaz spat out the question._

" _We're going to flank them."_

" _Flank them?"_

" _Yes, flanking it's when you attack someone-"_

" _I know what flanking is, boy. What I want to know is why we are flanking them."_

" _There are more of them than us. If we hit them from behind, we run less of a chance to lose anyone."_

" _And be remembered as cowards. We should hit them from the front, let them know that the Scourge has come for them."_

" _Better to live and be thought of as a coward, then die and be remembered as a fool. We'll flank them."_

 _Orbaz sneered at him, before moving his Deathcharger on._

 _Darion leveled a glare at Orbaz, and Iydallus snorted in anger._

" _Ignore him, he's angry that he wasn't placed in charge."_

 _Thassarian rode up next to Darion._

" _Does he think it was my choice?"_

" _I doubt it, but Orbaz has never been allowed to lead a group. He's been relegated to be an eternal follower, and he hates it."_

" _Why?"_

" _Because he doesn't play well with others " Koltira took the other side, "he thinks that the easiest way to the goal is the right way, no matter how many casualties. Unfortunately for him, the Lich King, Ruby, Kel'thuzad, they all have him made. They know that we would have died if he were put in charge. Plus, I think they want to test you."_

" _Test me?"_

" _Yeah. You've trained with some of the best, been allowed to skip Razuvious's hell course because of that sword on your back," Koltira nodded to Ashbringer, "but you're unbloodied, all the fresh meat here are to some degree, so they want to see how you all handle yourselves. It'll probably end up deciding whether the Knights of Acherus actually get made or if the entire project gets scrapped."_

" _Oh," Darion muttered, "so no pressure then."_

" _If it makes you feel any better, me and Thass have been doing this for a lot longer than Orbaz has, and I think you made the right call here. By the time we get to the back, it will be night, so most of the Scarlet Crusade will be getting drowsy."_

" _Just butcher them in their beds?"_

" _If it will be that easy. I'm betting we'll still lose at least one."_

" _Are you coming?" Orbaz called out, contempt clear._

" _I hate him."_

" _Don't worry, nobody likes Orbaz, I'm pretty sure there are plenty of plans floating around for how he'll fall off Acherus. Stefan, at least, has one ready."_

 _Iydallus canted forward at Darion's command._

" _Finally."_

 _If Darion made it back, he was finding this Stefan guy._


	20. Chapter 20

Blake leaned into the hug. She had lost track of the time, only that the sun had started to rise.

This was nice.

"Blake?"

"Hmm?"

"You good?"

"Bit longer."

Blake was enjoying this.

"Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"I heard you talking with that, uh, thing."

Ruby looked startled, before closing her eyes.

"It wasn't a one sided conversation, was it?"

"No?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Damn it, Xe'ra."

"Its name was Xe'ra?"

"Use female pronouns, it's what she does."

Blake idly wondered if giant wind chimes had biological genders, or if they chose which gender to identify as, or both, before deciding that train of thought wasn't going to go anywhere worthwhile.

"Don't become the Lich Queen."

"I have no plan to. Personally, I'm of the opinion that they can take this whole plan and shove it up their-"

 **BANG!**

Blake jolted out of the hug, startled.

Yang sat up, blinking sleepily.

"Wuh?"

"What in the world?"

Ruby didn't respond to either questions, sliding off her bed and throwing open the curtain.

"Blake, we'll have to finish this conversation at a different time."

Ruby walked over to the dresser, throwing outfits at everyone.

"Sis, what's going on."

"Look out the window, it's not subtle."

Blake was the first to the window, her agility coming in handy.

"Oh no, not again."

A pillar of smoke rose from Vale, causing Blake to throw all modesty aside, and throwing off her pajamas in favor of the clothes Ruby had thrown at her.

Yang and Weiss followed suit, and they were on Ruby's tail in seconds.

Ruby seemed to be moving as quickly as she could without using her Semblance. Suddenly, a blur of light blue and black rushed past them, stopping even with Ruby.

"Highlord! I made it."

"Zaala, what's wrong."

"Da first responder's called. It ain't good."

"Grimm?"

"Worse. Fel."

Ruby didn't stop, instead redoubled her movement, petals started flowing in her wake.

"Do we know where it came from?"

"Dere's a crashed ship."

"So we should prepare for the worst. Go find Archmage Khadgar, tell him we might need those reinforcements sooner than expected, and tell him to meet me at the impact sight."

Zaala broke off, and Ruby looked behind her.

"If you all don't catch up by the time the first ship leaves, I'm going without you. This is too much of a risk to wait.

Then she was gone.

Weiss let out a groan of frustration.

"I'm getting really sick of her doing that."

Then she shoved open a window, and jumped.

"WEISS!"

Rushing to the window, Blake and Yang stared down at their teammate, who was standing on a glyph.

"Coming?"

After the two other members jumped onto it, Weiss lowered the Glyph to the ground diagonally, bringing them to stop right outside the dock.

"-Your men are refusing to allow mine into the area?"

Ruby was standing with Ironwood, Tai, Summer, and Qrow.

"There's Fel there. Best let the professionals deal with this one."

"Fel? Are you sure?"

"That's the reports I got, might be something else, but when there's a Legion shaped ship crashed into the city, I'm inclined to believe that it's Fel. Now, is there room on that ship or not?"

"There is. Is your team coming with you?"

Ruby turned her head slightly.

"Yeah."

"Get on."

As they piled on the transport, Ironwood asked Ruby something.

"What can you tell me about Fel? I want to make sure my men know what to do."

"It's corrosive in high amounts, if anyone touches it, the best you can do is hack the offending digit off, otherwise it will never stop."

"Anything else?"

"Water doesn't work on Fel Fire, though enchanted water will. Have them blockade the area, me and Khadgar will deal with it."

Ironwood nodded, before relaying the orders through his scroll.

"There's something else."

Ironwood watched Ruby.

"We don't know what's on that ship."

"Nothing has come out of it."

"That doesn't mean anything, plenty of species of Demons could survive the crash, biding their time."

Ruby locked onto the three students, "Listen to me very carefully. If we crack open that ship and there are demons waiting, run. Don't worry about me, or mom or dad, or Qrow. Just run, assume we all died if you have to, but run and don't stop until you're looking Ozpin in the face and telling him to gather every Huntsman on the face of Remnant at Beacon."

"That bad?"

"I'm not going to mince words here. This may be the last time you ever see me. I'm letting you come along, because if the Legion is here, you're going to have to grow up, very fast."

"We're not children-"

"No, you're not. And I need to stop treating you as such. You are three wonderful women. But you aren't ready for what the Legion will bring."

"Ruby-"

"No matter how good you think you are, no matter how good you know you are, you will never be ready for the Burning Legion. We weren't."

Ruby closed her eyes, breathing.

"I never told you about the Broken Shore, did I?"

"No."

"Four hundred of Azeroth's best went there. Fifty of us dragged ourselves out."

"I've died before. Felt the cold bite of steel and my own blood in my mouth, as I looked up at a man who I would one day love."

"Illidan killed you at one point?"

"No."

"Then, Arthas?"

"Yeah."

Blake saw Tai closed his eyes, fire blasting from his nostrils.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Not the point. The point is, I died there, and I've never suffered a defeat as bad as the one the Legion gave us on the Broken Shore."

"Not the point- no we _are_ talking about this! Illidan, I could get over, because you're thirty five years old and can make your own decisions, but _Arthas_? What were you thinking?"

"Listen, dad, if we get out of this, I'll gladly sit down, tell you all the details, as few as there are, and let you rant about the stupid shit I did in my twenties-"

"Oh, she was in her twenties, that explains it."

"Shut up, Qrow. -and I'll do it gladly, because we'll be alive."

"They scare you." Blake realized that with a shock.

"Not the rank and file, not even Kil'jaeden and Archimonde, but… I saw something on that island, just for a second, and it will never leave me."

"What was it?"

Ruby became very interested in her hands suddenly.

"Sargeras, the fallen titan. Pray you never see him. That you never so much as get close to him, because if you do, you will know what it means to be _powerless_. We could have gathered every fighter on Azeroth, and had he gotten through, he would have slaughtered us like gnats."

There were those words again.

Ruby's eyes locked onto Blake, "I saw a god on that island Blake, and it is the single most terrifying thing I have ever seen."

Ruby seemed to grow quiet, staring at her hands again.

"What happened on the Broken Shore, it wasn't a battle, hell, it wasn't even a fight. It was a massacre, pure and simple. It took everything I had to drag Varian's corpse to the coast."

The speaker crackled on.

"We'll be landing in two minutes, then it will be a ten minute walk to the barricade."

Ruby nodded, before standing up, running through an gambit of exercises with her flames.

When the ship landed, Ruby was the first one off, heading towards the quarantine before anyone else was off.

By the time they caught up with her, she was crouched over a pool of green goo.

Reaching out with her right hand, Ruby touched the longest finger on that hand to the substance.

Recoiling back with a hiss, Ruby grabbed a knife from one of the Knights and slashed through the offending digit at the second knuckle.

The severed finger fell to the ground, hissing as it was eaten away.

"Yeah, that's Fel."

"Ruby!"

"Relax, either I'm never going to need it again, or I'll regenerate it. Digits are easy."

Just then, a raven flew down, landing next to Ruby, before exploding in a gust of smoke and feathers.

Ruby looked amused as two arms burst from the smoke, sweeping outwards to part it.

The grey haired Archmage stepped forward.

"Still dramatic as always."

"Easier to get rid of the feathers this way. Now, what are we looking at?"

"Well, suddenly I don't feel so special anymore," Blake heard Qrow mutter sarcastically.

"It's Fel alright, Khadgar, and quite a lot."

"I'll work on clean up," Khadgar raised a hand, and a purple teardrop shape formed.

"Clean this up, would you?"

The teardrop floated over to one of the bigger puddles, draining it out.

"Now, what do we do about that?"

Ruby and Khadgar were both looking at the pillar of jagged metal crashed into the heart of the park."

"I'll go crack it open."

"Are you sure that's the best idea? We don't know what's waiting."

"Which is why I'm going to open it, the last thing we need is for the Legion to have time to get ready."

As Ruby rose, Weiss called out, "Wait!"

"What?"

"Crescent Rose."

"What about it?"

"Give it here. If they can't break it, then even if you," Weiss gulped for air, before continuing, "Even if you die, you can come back, right?"

Ruby nodded, before unholstering the giant scythe and handing it over to Weiss.

Ironwood stepped up, handing her a contact.

"What's this?"

"Camera, that way, we can see what's going on."

Ruby nodded, before slipping it into her eye, blinking a couple of times.

Then she turned and trudged through the green haze to the black metal monument.

-X Line Break X-

Ruby slipped into the dagger shaped ship, the Warglaive in hand.

Was this how the world ended? A single ship deployed into the heart of Vale?

If the Legion was here, on Remnant, in Vale, then they would take the city in a matter of days. Whether through might of numbers, or through precision strikes to eliminate Ozpin and the Council, replacing them with Dreadlords. Then all it would take is a single list of commands to turn off the CCT.

Ruby wrapped her newly-maimed hand around one of the edges, throwing herself higher.

Internal gravity was off. Faking it?

The best case scenario was that this ship was dead, no way to open portals, no engines. The worst was that this was a trap, that a group of imps would leap out any second to attack her.

Ruby gathered her plagues at the tip of her finger. Times like this she wished she hadn't locked Apocalypse up.

She had rarely used the Nathrezim blade, but having it recognize her as its master allowed her to access the stored plagues of hundreds of Dreadlords.

Best birthday present Arthas had ever given her.

What had she been thinking, admitting to that relationships existence?

You're welcome.

Oh, she did it.

You were going to have to admit to it at some point.

Not if Ruby could have helped it.

Turning the corner, Ruby let herself fall onto the side of the wall.

Poking her head down, she took in the command center. No demons.

She couldn't have been this lucky. She was never this lucky. Whether it was being stranded on another world through means she still wasn't certain, or leaving to fulfill a promise just in time to not be there to save a friend, Ruby had the worst luck.

There was no way that she had somehow managed to get the one Legion ship that was uninhabited.

Clicking her fingers, the plague crossed the room. Demons would still need to breathe.

A coughing came from one corner, and another from directly below her feet

Plunging down, Ruby swung the Warglaive, launching a ball of fire above her.

Something moved, leaping from one corner of the room to intercept Ruby's swing.

Ruby smashed into a pair of familiar blades and her eyes widened.

"Vandel?"

"Ruby?"

The Highlord landed, looking at the demonic elf in front of him.

He had a few more scars, but otherwise hadn't changed.

"If you're here, did we land on Azeroth?"

"Remnant."

"I haven't heard of that world."

"Good, then that means the Burning Legion doesn't know about us."

"Those your people out there?"

"Some of them, we're working with the rest."

The Slayer nodded, before punching the floor.

"Jace! Turn on the emergency systems."

The lights flicked on, alongside the artificial gravity.

Ruby looked around as she landed on the ship's floor.

She saw now, that it had been Akama who she tried to disembowel.

Hearing the thud of leather boots on the floor, she looked up.

Green Fel webs faded from the wall as Kor'vas walked down towards them.

Fire licked the edges of her skin, toughened by the Aranasi soul she had taken into her.

"Ruby."

Ruby inclined her head, before turning to Vandel.

"So, what's with the whole silence?"

"We didn't know where we are, we decided it was best to go silent until Altruis and Belath got back from scouting."

"Yeah, well, you scared the crap out of me."

Vandel walked over to the command station, sending an order off it with the press of a button. Ruby leaned against it.

"Before we crashed, we were being attacked by Kil'jaeden. He said that Lord Illidan had died."

Ruby closed her eyes, "So he did die."

"You didn't know?"

"He was still alive when Malfurion dragged me through the portal on Argus."

"Do you think there's any chance he's alive? Kil'jaeden is the Deceiver."

"Kil'jaeden wouldn't lie about this, there one thing he likes more than lies, and that's puppets. If Illidan were alive, Kil'jaeden would hang this over our head."

Ruby pushed up, sighing explosively, "I'm glad."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to think about what Kil'jaeden would be doing to him if he had survived. I just hope he dragged Argus into the pits of hell with him."

"He would have liked that."

"Yeah."

Ruby started to walk towards the lower deck.

"Where are you going?"

"Grabbing Jace. I don't know how long Altruis will take and you're going to need someone who isn't a misanthropic ass with you during the negotiations."

"The Illidari doesn't negotiate."

"You do when you crash your ship into a city-state."

Vandel looked out the balcony, apparently noticing the collection of armed guards with guns pointed at the ship.

"On second thought, grab Jace, I'm going to tell Altruis to hurry up."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

-X Line Break X-

Qrow took another swig, an eye on the match.

It wasn't very interesting, his nieces easily dominating their opponents. How did they make it past the first round?

His other eye was on his brother-in-law, who was quietly stewing in his rage. Dark embers crackled on his skin, occasionally blazing forth into wisps of fire.

Tai had been like this since the ship, waiting for RWBY's bout to finish to confront his second born on what she had meant.

Summer, while no doubt unhappy, had managed to keep a much more level head. She had always been good at that.

Qrow had bit his tongue, staying out of it beyond one sarcastic barb, but he knew his feelings on the matter.

Learning this had been like watching Tai's history repeat itself in Ruby.

The cynical part of Qrow, the part he buried deep inside, under as much alcohol and sarcasm as physically possible, made him wonder if this could have been avoided if he had been more open about his sister. Had been truthful about how much of a mess Raven was.

Ruby thought the Illidari were misanthropic? Raven made them look like girl scouts. At least they weren't running around slaughtering villages.

The realistic side pointed out that the answer was probably no. The way she said it meant this had to have happened during the time when Ruby was under Arthas's thrall.

That thought alone sent Qrow's skin crawling.

Summer slipped out of the room as Yang eliminated her opponent, no doubt waiting to ambush her daughters.

The BW pair were waiting with them, curious about what Ruby had to say.

Winter's sister leaned away from the rage fueled Semblance of Tai.

"Tai, calm down."

He didn't blame the guy, but he didn't want for this to descend into a screaming match like it had often done between Tai and Raven.

A deep rumble came from the dragon's chest, and he glared over at Qrow, eyes having contracted into slits.

Well, that didn't work.

Ruby eliminated the other team's sniper with a well placed shot, and her and Yang walked off.

The camera followed them into the hall, where Summer was waiting for them. Together the pair made sure Ruby didn't run off.

When they entered the room, Ruby had an uncomfortable look on her face.

"So- Uh- what do you want to know?"

"Why?" the question barely sounded human.

Ruby walked over to a chair, slouching into it.

"I don't know."

"How 'Don't you know'?"

It was clear Tai wasn't buying that.

"Because I never thought about it. Never wanted to."

"Why's that?"

The question came from Summer, and was calmer because of it.

"The way I've always looked at it, I have two equally shitty routes it could end. One, that Arthas implanted these feeling in me, probably subconsciously, or two, I somehow found it in me to love a complete monster."

Yeah, that thought had passed through the scarecrow's mind. He could understand why Ruby didn't want to contemplate on either option.

If she had discovered that those feeling weren't her own, she probably would have turned out even worse than she was now, if they were hers, well, Qrow couldn't, didn't want to, wrap his head around Ruby loving someone like Arthas either.

Maybe it was because the Arthas Ruby mentioned sometimes, the prince of a kingdom, destined for greatness, was just a story to the Qrow. It made him wonder if that Arthas had ever actually existed, or it was a act like Raven.

"You've got a lot of problems, kiddo."

"My life's a mess Qrow."

"Then I guess it's up to us to fix it, huh?"

Ruby gave a wane smile, "I don't think it will be that easy."

No, probably not. But that didn't mean Qrow was going to give up. It was like he said, Team STQ was good at fixing broken things. They had all been one at one point and they all fixed each other.

Tai finally stood, the flames gone, and bundled Ruby into a hug.

"It doesn't matter. He's gone, and you're home now."

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"I gave up."

"On what?"

"Getting back. Didn't think it would happen."

"That's not your fault."

"I should have tried harder."

"But you didn't, and you know what?"

"What?"

"Because you didn't, you brought back a lot of help."

"Mh."

"And you know what else? You brought back Summer. Sum, get over here and join in, Yang, Qrow, Weiss, Blake, you all too."

Qrow sighed, before joining in the hug.

Damn it, why did Tai have to be so sappy?

-X Line Break X-

Cinder sat with a new scroll in hand.

She had delayed this call long enough.

"Cinder."

Cinder gulped, suppressing her fear, "Salem."

"You were supposed to call two weeks ago," the clipped response came, the only sign of the anger the Half-Maiden could detect.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy-"

"Trying to salvaging the sinking ship of your plan."

Cinder did flinch at that, he was there?

"Hush now, Watts, I have faith that Cinder can still get us what we need."

"She has been foiled at every turn, Salem. By nothing more than a group of meddlesome fools, no less."

"I haven't-"

"Do not lie to me. I have ears everywhere, a dagger in every hand. I know you have been failing."

"Understandably, no amount of preparation would allow any of her to prepare for forces that didn't exist three months ago."

"They're able to create fields that block Dust!"

"If you are only useful with Dust in hand you are no help to us. You haven't even begun to crack into the Vault or kill Ozpin, if Salem ordered it I could have Braun Schnee's head-"

"Stop with the boasting, Doctor, we all know that is a lie. Braun's guards only exist to look pretty. Your 'daggers' would be sent back shattered."

"Then I would do it myself!"

"You would be strung up, Watts. Don't underestimate Braun because he sits in his mockery of a throne room. Politics is the point where Braun is by far the weakest, when the time comes to strike, that is where we will eliminate him."

Cinder stayed out of the debate, hand inching towards the disconnect button. Maybe they had forgotten about her?

"Cinder, if you touch that button, I will feed the finger to a Grimm."

How-?

"I know everything you do Cinder, it's why I'm not angry at you. You have tried your best, that is clear. Still, Watts is right, you must infiltrate the Vault. We need one of the Maidens, you must obtain that power if we are to move on."

"What about Ozpin's little cabal? And the one the girl is forming?"

"Send the psychopath, he'll deal with the silver eyed girl, seeing as Cinder can't."

Oh, please no.

"I'm not sending Maiden is your primary goal, only eliminate Ozpin if you have the chance."

"If she doesn't eliminate him, they'll hunt her down."

"Not if Cinder's distraction works."

" _Nothing_ about her plan has worked so far. If this fails they'll make getting to the Maiden harder."

"Then she won't fail."

Cinder felt pride glow in her chest. No, she wouldn't.

"Good luck."

The scroll disconnected with a click, and Cinder looked over the files Adam had sent her.

Soon, she would prove them all wrong.

-X Line Break X-

 _Darion stared down at Hearthglen, Iydallus unnaturally quiet next to him._

 _One._

 _Two._

 _Three._

 _Mark._

 _Ashbringer flew through the air, striking the patrol man in the chest. The corrupted blade pierced the armor, burning the Scarlet Crusader alive before he had time to even scream._

 _Gayle eliminated his partner, tearing out his throat with her teeth. The twice born undead dragged the body over the edge._

 _Darion climbed up, picking Ashbringer from the pile of ash, kicking it, Darion scattered the last evidence to the four winds._

 _Good. The longer before anyone realized they were here, the less likely they were to lose a member._

 _The rest of the team joined the two of them on the edge._

 _Darion tightened his grip on Ashbringer. The heavy armor weighed on him, it would be hard to sneak in it, so they probably wouldn't be able to maintain stealth for too long?_

" _What's that smell?"_

 _Darion froze as one of the patrols walked by the walls._

" _It smells like," the crusader breathed in, "Smells like an abomination."_

 _Crap. How could he have forgotten to account for the stench of Flesh Golems? Five minutes into his first mission and he was already making mistakes._

 _Koltira stepped off the edge, plummeting several feet to land in between them with a thud._

" _Huh?_

" _What?"_

 _The white haired Death Knight didn't hesitate, decapitating the two women with Byfrost._

 _Nodding up to them, Koltira hid the bodies, and then jumped, being caught by Thassarian and Malag._

 _Once the High Elf was back Darion took stock._

 _What to do? Burn every building? Possible, but it would give them away. Reaching into the bag they had been given before leaving, Darion examined one of the vials._

 _The Plague. They could try to poison the food, but that would take to long._

 _What had Ruby said during the lessons? The newer strands of the Plague were extremely volatile. Maybe?_

" _Thassarian, I need to take Koltira and Orbaz and slip this into the forge and barracks kitchen."_

 _Darion handed two of the three vials to Thassarian and Koltira._

" _Where will you be?"_

" _We're going to retreat back to the camp, I have an idea._

 _Orbaz opened his mouth to speak, but saw cut off by a nod from Thassarian._

" _We'll meet you there."_

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _On the other side of the world, a motley crew had gathered._

 _Lilsalia jumped on the balls of her feet. She was going to help kill a dragon! How cool was that?_

 _Lady Jaina Proudmoore had given a pair of elven swords to the twins up front._

 _She really didn't look good, bags sat under her eyes, and her hair was the color and consistency of straw._

" _Jaina, are you alright? Maybe you should sit this one out. You've done enough," the blue clad one asked._

 _The sorceress shook her head, "No, I'm fine, the sooner this raid is done, the sooner I can rest well again. I just don't like the idea of this dragon so close to Theramore, and she has Anduin."_

 _The druid that stood beside them rested a hand on her shoulder, and the bags receded._

 _Lilsalia slotted poison into the injectors on her blades. Technology was amazing._

 _She was, however, disappointed by the fact that she wasn't the only Rogue there. A Blood Elf holding a pair of green daggers stood with the group at the front._

 _They trudged through the cave, occasionally killing whelps._

" _How fortuitous. Usually, I must leave my lair in order to feed."_

 _Looming ahead of them was a great dragon, black scales coating the body._

 _This was going to be so fun!_

 _The red clad twin charged forward with a roar, swinging his sword at the beast._

 _It opened its mouth, flames burning in its maw._

 _Before it could breath, a chunk of ice formed in its mouth._

 _The blade cut into the beast's scales, and it roared through the ice._

 _The blue clad one followed up with a second strike as Lilsalia and the Blood Elf jumped from cover, slipping their daggers into the beast's hide._

 _Lilsalia grinned as the dragon's hide hissed. Venoms, weren't they great? And there was one for almost any occasion on Azeroth!_

 _The dragon brought its teeth down upon the ice, shattering it._

" _You dare!? My children, feed on their flesh!"_

 _The Broodmother took flight as more whelps burst from eggs._

 _Lilsalia fought off the angry dragons, while Lady Proudmoore assaulted the dragon's wings._

" _Broll!" the red twin called out, and the Druid seemed to catch the point._

 _Shifting into a bear, the Night Elf threw him up, where he lunged at the the dragon._

 _Magically enchanted metal, dating back to the War of the Ancients, if Lilsalia's archeology degree wasn't failing her, sheared through the tendons of the wing._

 _The dragon fell with a roar, the red one falling with her._

 _As she stood, he lay gasping on the floor in pain._

" _Miserable wretch, I shall finish what I started at Alcaz Island, but first," she turned to one of the cave ledges, "Kill the boy."_

" _ANDUIN!"_

 _The young boy held in the grasp of the two dragonkin was forced to his knees, one raising an axe._

 _The dragon's head weaved to the blue, "Surrender Stormwind to me, and I will allow him to live."_

 _The blue twin started to lower his sword, until the last voice anyone expected called out._

" _NO!"_

 _The dragon's head swiveled around, glaring at the boy._

" _Father, don't give her what she-"_

" _Silence him."_

 _The hand roughly covered the boy's mouth, but the damage had been done, both of the twins raised their swords with renewed vigor._

" _End him."_

 _The axe was raised, but before it could be lowered, the Blood Elf span between them, digging her daggers into their chests._

 _The Broodmother roared, turning to swing at the Blood Elf, Lilsalia threw another envenomed dagger at into the hand, which combined with the shots from the three seventh Legion gunmen they had brought with them, distracting her at the opportune moment._

 _A massive guillotine of ice formed and crashed into the extremity, severing it._

" _Broll!"_

 _The Blood Elf threw the boy, who was caught in the Druid's arms and carried away._

 _Releasing the loudest roar yet, the dragon turned, unleashing a spell on the red twin._

 _His brother moved to push him out of the way, but both held fast. The spell struck them both._

" _Varian!" Three voices cried out._

" _Father!"_

" _Disappointing, I had hoped I would be able use the weak willed one. I guess I will have to use Bolvar instead."_

 _The dragon roared again, however, as an arrow put her eye out._

 _Spinning around, Lilsalia saw that Anduin had snatched a bow and quiver from one of the Dwarves, it was one the perfect size for an eight year old like him._

 _As the dragon stepped forward, rage clear, something parted the smoke._

 _He wore a ornate set of armor, with a scar like the twins, a sword glowing with a light at its heart in hand._

" _Impossible."_

 _The new sword lashed out, cutting away the other limb, before decapitating the dragon._

 _...Cool!_

 _Lilsalia watched as the man walked away from the dead dragon, picking his son up._

" _Broll, can you make sure that the head gets back to Stormwind? I want it to hang above the gates."_

 _The druid nodded, changing into a bear and assisted the soldiers in dragging the head along._

 _Lilsalia unstoppered several bottles, filling them with blood, before following after the triumphant group._

 _She was still getting paid for this, right?_

" _Come, Anduin, let us return to Theramore, I wish to be on the first boat to Stormwind."_

 _...Right?_

 _-X Line Break X-_

" _What are we waiting for?"_

 _Darion ignored Orbaz, eyes locked on the town._

" _Your plan failed, Mograine. I'm taking control of this operation, and will inform the Lich King of your failure."_

 _Orbaz stood, only to be forced back down by Thassarian and Koltira._

 _Light was starting to dawn, and Darion squinted into the early morning haze._

 _Had it failed?_

 _Then the screaming started._

 _Green smoke started to flow from the two buildings Darion had marked. The Ashbringer's son watched as a chef ran out, coughing and hacking, as his skin melted off of him._

" _Now."_

 _No other word was needed, everyone followed Darion over the wall, weapons in hands._

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Gayle drove her hatchet into the throat of a Hearthglen citizens. While the rest of her allies laughed at the slaughter, Gayle did it in complete silence._

 _She understood now. They had forsaken him. There was no need for the Light in the Scourge._

 _A crusader ran forward, trying to save his charges. Gayle drove the hatchet into his skull._

 _The Scarlet Crusade had hounded her for years. Hounded all undead. Did they not realize that Lordaeron was a land for the dead now? All that remained were fools trying to eke out a living._

 _Tearing the hatchet out, she turned to the remaining population. Their leader's move had been brilliant._

 _The plague had spread through the barracks, killing the majority of the defenders, and the one in the forge had stopped the survivors from retrieving weapons._

 _The last bastion was the keep, where Hearthglen's leader was hold up._

 _The High Elf was weaving a new plague, getting ready to wipe out what remained of Hearthglen in one go._

" _Malag, Koltira, with me, we're going to finish Galvar Pureblood. The rest of you," Darion gestured with his chin, "kill these wretches."_

 _The citizens cried out in fear as the three walked away, and one stood, attempting to run._

 _A thrown hatchet put an end to that._

 _Gayle sat, waiting for the plague to be ready._

 _-X Line Break X-_

" _Hand over the Demon."_

" _I don't think we will, what about you, Pitwick?"_

" _No."_

" _If you don't-"_

" _You'll what? You only got onto Avernus because we allowed you to, Warden. All it would take is a word from me, and nobody would ever see you again."_

" _I defeated Illidan Stormrage. I can kill you easily."_

" _You killed him after a months long campaign to weaken his forces, while his best fighters were gone, and he was weakened. We, however, have all our forces right here."_

" _I will break you if I have to."_

" _But how many people would die in the effort? How many people would you send to their deaths for one man?"_

" _For one Demon."_

 _Maiev glared down at the two through her helmet. She had spent the last hour trying to convince them to hand over the last Illidari._

" _What, exactly, makes what you are doing any better than Illidan? He sent hundreds to die in his battle against the Burning Legion, and now you are ready to do the same for one of his people?"_

 _Maiev's hand twitched, and she desperately wanted to draw her umbra crescent._

" _Illidan is a criminal. Anyone who worked with him must face the consequences."_

" _How's Malfurion going to take it when you attempt to arrest his mate for working with Illidan?"_

" _That is different."_

" _Why's that? Oh, right, because you've left from the Night Elves. How does that feel, Betrayer? To know you threw away everything you care for in your obsession?"_

 _The Warden wanted to hoist the little shit up and throttle him. What did he know of what she had done?_

" _My duty was to make sure that Illidan Stormrage never harmed anyone ever again, I have done that."_

" _And now what? You're fighting a crusade against ghosts that aren't there. Will locking up every Demon Hunter cause the damage you have done to magically fix itself?"_

" _It will stop the Burning Legion."_

 _Maiev was grasping at straws, she knew that, he knew that. Maiev had played just as large a role in Naisha's death and the Watchers' destruction as Illidan. Tyrande had let him out, but Maiev couldn't accept that._

 _At the end of the journey, Maiev had realized how rash she had been, throwing away everything for a chance at revenge. All that remained was to force Illidan and his kind to serve their eternal sentence, it was all she could do._

" _This doesn't have to be difficult. Hand the demon over to me, and we shall never see each other again."_

" _Or force your hand, and you'll give us so many new recruits, including yourself. I'll warn you once, Warden. Walk away. Let this one go, or you shall learn that no one can escape the might of the Scourge."_

" _You have to the end of the week to hand him over."_

 _Maiev walked out of the room, to where her hippogryph was waiting._

 _It was a bluff, she was aware of it. The Scourge had no supply lines to cut off. They didn't need food or water. If they needed to, the Scourge could weather an assault from more forces than Maiev could comfortably muster._

 _Maiev sighed, letting one Demon go couldn't be the end of the world._

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Darion smashed his gauntleted fist into the crusader's skull, again and again._

 _He had been stuck in Acherus for too long. The Necropoli had large hallways, allowing the Death Knights to draw their Runeblades with ease._

 _The keep didn't have that. The halls were cramped, forcing Darion to rely on his fists and spells. The massive blade of Ashbringer couldn't be drawn._

 _The bone gave way, the Saronite gauntlets splattering with blood._

 _Standing, the red haired man grabbed the sword the guard had used. It was smaller, easier to manipulate in the confines of halls._

 _Working with his two allies, Darion fought his way through the keep, killing every crusader they found._

 _Stepping into the great hall, Darion dropped the sword, drawing the jagged blade of his father. Malag and Koltira doing the same._

 _The green runes glowed as he looked at the high table._

 _The crusaders standing there were ready._

" _Darion Mograine," the man at the center looked down on them, "this crusade was founded on the ideald of your father, your brother helped lead it for years. Then you come along, assisting a shade in the form of your father to murder Renault, and join the monsters they hated. How do you live with yourself?"_

 _Darion didn't respond. He had no reason to._

" _Speak, monster. I wish to hear your confession before I send your damned soul screaming into the Twisted Nether."_

" _My father was betrayed by Renault," Darion would amuse him, who was he to deny a dead man his last wish, "slaughtering those who helped my brother seems fitting."_

" _Your father was murdered by the Scourge, Darion! If you truly wish to have revenge on those who killed your father, strike down the monsters next to you and lay down your weapon," the man's eyes softened, "You're just a boy Darion. I'll make it quick, then you can rejoin your family in the Light."_

" _No."_

 _The man, who must of been Galvar, closed his eyes._

" _Very well. Then may whatever judge there is have mercy on your soul."_

 _Then his men attacked._

 _Darion caught the hammer of one of the guards on Ashbringer's hilt. A Light infused fist hit Darion in the face._

 _Darion faltered as the fist burned his face, and the paladin jumped on that._

 _Darion was knocked to the ground, Ashbringer skidding from his hand._

 _The Paladin's hammer glowed as he brought it down, and Darion closed his eyes, preparing for the strike._

 _A great flash of Light lit the room, and the paladin was sent flying._

 _Scrambling to grab Ashbringer, Darion stood up._

 _Another guard came at him, and Darion swung. Amal'thazad's lesson came to him, and the guard froze. The blade shattered the man, and Darion faced the other five._

 _Galvar was fighting Koltira, the High Elf easily parrying each blow._

 _Malag was fighting three of the others, using his lessons from Thorval to stay up._

 _That left the last one, Darion unleashed the power of the fallen blade, a wave of corrupted ash trailing in the sword's wake._

 _The peerless blade cut the other man's hammer in two, before easily sinking through the armor and into the flesh._

 _Darion didn't wait for the man to finish burning before he yanked the sword out, moving to assist the Draenei._

 _By the time the last one fell, Koltira had been forced to throw up a Anti-Magic Shell, struggling to halt Galvar's Light fueled assault._

 _Darion felt something deep inside him click, and the runes on Ashbringer blazed forth, before fading out spent._

 _Strength beyond compare flowed into Darion, and the blade lashed out in a series of blows too fast to comprehend._

 _Galvar's Light weather the first two blows, but flickered with the third, the fourth ending to lord of Hearthglen's life._

 _Darion staggered forward, tired. Malag caught him before he fell._

" _We need to find Taelan's grave."_

 _Using Ashbringer as a crutch, Darion walked out of the keep._

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Ruby watched as the eyes flickered open._

" _Mistress?"_

" _I'm right here."_

" _You brought me back?"_

" _Yes."_

 _Aggra turned her head to Ruby, something glistening in her eyes._

 _Fear._

" _Thank you."_

" _What's wrong?"_

" _Monsters."_

" _What about them?"_

" _They were there, when I was gone. They did… things to me."_

 _Ruby frowned, confused, "What were the like?"_

" _Big, and dark, and evil," the orc looked at her, "don't let me go back there. Please."_

 _Ruby helped the orc sit up._

" _The Alliance?"_

 _The orc's head shook, "No. While I was gone."_

" _Do you mean… while you were dead?"_

" _Yes."_

" _There were monsters."_

" _Yes."_

" _And were 'Big, dark, and evil'."_

" _Yes."_

" _Huh."_

 _What had Aggra seen?_

" _Can you be a bit more descriptive?"_

" _No."_

" _Why not?"_

" _They were so big, and everything was dark. I only knew they were there because of the laughter and pain. Don't let me go back there. Please, mistress, don't let me go back."_

" _I'm not going to let you go easily."_

" _Good," the response was sincere. Whatever Aggra had seen really had her spooked._

 _Suddenly a knock came._

" _Come in!"_

 _One of the Death Knights walked in._

" _The king calls for you."_

 _Standing, Ruby stretched, walking towards where Arthas was._

" _Ruby."_

" _Yes?"_

" _A message from Scholomance came. Hearthglen lies broken."_

" _So they succeeded."_

" _Yes."_

" _I told you they could do it."_

" _I never doubted you."_

" _Yes you did."_

 _Arthas released a short chuckle._

" _So, we're going through with it?"_

" _Yes, I'm already having the necessary supplies gathered. They should be ready by the time they return."_

" _My lord?"_

 _Turning, Ruby blinked as she stared at the new Death Knight._

" _Arthas?"_

" _Yes?"_

" _That's a panda."_

" _Yes."_

" _Huh."_

 _All thoughts about what had scared Aggra had faded for_ _the moment._

 _-X Line Break X-_

AN: Ah, Gravewalker Gie, thank god you exist to give a welcome moment of levity from the pile of atrocities and war crimes that is the Death Knight starting zone. We got biological warfare, multiple counts of stockholm syndrome, and a frankly depressing amount of civilians slaughtered. Is it any surprise Ruby ended up as an PTSD ridden insomniac who outright _refuses_ to accept that she helped save the world enough times by her own free will that she's made up for it by all but the harshest metric(AKA her and Garrosh's opinion on the matter)? At least it's almost over, right?

So, since I've rallied myself and started to write the next actual chapter of Grave in six months (Chapter 32) I figured I should also catch the Fanfiction copy up with Spacebattles, so you can expect a steady stream of Grave every couple of days for the next few weeks, and I've begun work on Fur and Fire, the first of a Grave spinoff telling the tale of Ruby (and another RWBY character that got dragged along, people who have read most of my other works can probably guess who, and probably a fair few Grave readers) if Ruby had been dropped in a different part of Azeroth and been tied to a different class.


	21. Chapter 21

AN: So, I hadn't planned to post this, but I was reading though Grave as a refresher and *Laughs Sheepishly* turns out I had skipped right from chapter 9 to 11, so I figured I'd post a new chapter while I'm running around fixing that

-X Line Break X-

Ruby sat on the ledge of Acherus, looking out over the forest. A rustle of cloth, and Blake sat next to her.

"Hey."

"How'd you get here?"

Blake shrugged, feathers sprouting along her arm, "Flew."

Ruby didn't respond at first, turning her eyes back to the setting sun on the horizon.

"Who else is going on?"

"Coco and Mercury. Yang's excited for the end of the week."

She would be.

"What do you want?"

"I was worried about you. You disappeared after talking with us."

"I needed to be alone."

Blake hummed, "I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"You don't like to think about it, do you?"

"No, I don't."

Despite what Pitwick and Darmus thought, Ruby was ashamed of what had happened. Of finding comfort from the memories of Kel'thuzad with Arthas. Of betraying Jaina like that. Most of all, however, she was ashamed of the fact that she missed it all.

There was a freedom in the Scourge. Who had been right? The other side, in hindsight, but at the time it had been them. Who was the enemy? Whoever defied Arthas. Where did the line end? When every living thing on Azeroth had joined the Scourge.

After, it hadn't been like that. Who was right, the Kaldorei defending their land, or the Goblins who had to attack it or they would be thrown out of the Horde, leaving them with nothing? Ruby didn't know.

She hid it well, shame was a weakness, and Ruby had learned to never show such things.

Jaina had known. It had never been spoken, but Ruby was certain that the former princess had known.

Liam had known, as did Tess. When Ruby had succumbed to the Nightmare, they had been there. Neither had ever said why, but Ruby had her suspicions.

Calia knew. The priestess was too perceptive to not.

Varian had known, they both understood the appeal of that sort of freedom.

Blake handed over a notebook, and Ruby looked at her in confusion.

"Look through it."

Ruby flicked through the pages, looking at the drawings.

They started childish, little more than stick figures with traits added on. A pair of cat ears, horns, a tail. As Ruby got further into the book, they became more detailed.

A self portrait.

A man with greying hair, covering his entire face. A tail hanging down. A simple suit covered his body.

Another man, mouth bared in a grin, revealing rows of jagged teeth. A wet suit covered his body.

A tired looking young woman, pupils square, with a nurse's bag.

Blake stopped her on a picture of a red headed young man. Hair slicked back, dressed in black with an elaborate embroidery.

"I never told you about Adam."

"I don't think so, no."

"I know so."

"You don't need to." Best let the past die.

"I want to. You told me something you are hurt by, now I want to do the same."

"If you're sure."

Ruby listened as Blake described her sordid past. Of her father disappearing when she was young, and trying to survive on the streets of Vale. Of joining the White Fang, and meeting Adam Taurus. Of learning to fight and that whirling into a romance. Of that relationship turning sour, and the White Fang's fall.

Then Blake gestured to the book, "Turn the page."

The next pages had a different tone. Cityscape after cityscape.

After those, were drawings of Team RWBY and JNPR.

Yang was captured shadow boxing.

Weiss was going through Myrtenaster's chambers.

Jaune was laughing sheepishly.

Pyrrha was in the middle of a move with Milò.

Nora was jumping in the air.

Ren sat, meditating.

Ruby, younger, whole, before the world had worn her away. Working on Crescent Rose.

Then Ruby turned the page again, and the drawings changed.

Darmus, leaning on Shattered Light.

Malag, blood leaking from his arm to feed the Maw of the Damned.

Zaala and York, apparently caught in a dance.

Velann, collapsed on the couch.

Darion, helm off, stretching.

Anduin. Examining Shalamayne with a wistful look on his face.

Tai, sparring with Yang.

Summer, relaxing next to a tree.

Qrow, halfway through taking a drink.

Weiss singing in the gardens of Beacon, under the gaze of the statue.

And another picture of Ruby. Hunched over a map, a finger jabbing into it, talking to someone to the side.

Ruby turned towards Blake, only to see her curled up, asleep.

Sighing, Ruby stood. Reaching down, Ruby picked up the Dreamer.

Walking through the halls of Acherus, Ruby stopped at the door to her room. Gently opening the door, Ruby lay Blake down on her bed.

Wondering how the smell of rot wasn't waking Blake up, Ruby unfastened her cloak, throwing it over her black haired teammate as a makeshift blanket.

"Aggra?"

The call came quietly, and Ruby's valet came.

Her left arm was in tatters, and stitches ran across her body. Testament to how many times Ruby had kept her promise.

"Mistress?"

"I'm going to the heart. Come get me when Blake wakes up, ok?"

"Yes, mistress."

"Good," Ruby lifted the left hand, "what happened?"

"I tried to feed Liam."

Ruby sighed, "Aggra, you know it isn't safe."

It was ironic, that the wolf named after Liam was the most temperamental. It was only Ruby's unparalleled control that kept him in check when Uther was out, the Worg leading Ruby's pack capable of throwing the smaller wolf around easily.

"I wanted to help."

"Feed Varian and Alex then, but don't go near Liam. It will never end well. Listen, I've had a long day, I'll fix up your arm tomorrow, ok?"

What a sad pair they made. The woman running from shadows and the one who damned her to that fate.

Ruby had made it clear that Aggra was from any obligation years ago, but the orc stayed. Whatever she had seen haunted her to this day. It was, Ruby noted, bitterly ironic that the same person that had ruined Aggralan's life was the only thing keeping her safe from something worse.

The strong, defiant shamaness that Ruby had met on Outland still appeared on occasion, more so recently, which gave Ruby hope, but was buried under fear of the monsters. And the fear that Ruby would abandon her to them.

Ruby would never do so, she had dragged Aggra into this fate, her conscience wouldn't let her abandon the Orc. The two of them were in for the long hall. Until they found a way to keep Aggra from going to the Void.

"Yes."

Good.

Walking into the heart, Ruby stepped over the Plate of the Damned. Settling onto the pillars remains, Ruby resolved to make someplace for Blake and the rest to stay, before slipping into an uneasy sleep, haunted by floating skeletons and blades.

-X Line Break X-

Blake walked along the halls of the Eye. The walls transitioning from golden metal to wood seamlessly.

She couldn't keep the small smile from her face. She had been worried that talking about Adam would be painful. It was, but now that it was done, she felt lighter, like something that had been weighing her down was gone.

"You seem happy."

The man walked out of the wall, staff clicking against the the floor, the snake carved around it following her.

"Asclepius."

The snake god swept into a low bow.

"My Queen. You did not come to the Dream last night."

"I was busy, and hoping Luperca would leave."

"Well, you got your wish. The She-Wolf went hunting."

Blake had been confined to the Eye, Luperca waiting for her to leave. There was something deeply unsettling about that. The Dream was hers, and she should be free to go where she wished.

"You seem happy."

"You already said that."

"It is the truth. Something that held you down is gone. But at the same time, something worries you."

The god studied Blake, examining her. His eyes contracted into slits as his tongue slipped from his mouth.

"You are worried about someone you care for. You learn they suffered in some way, the same as you, and are ashamed you didn't notice."

Blake didn't respond. Didn't need too. Asclepius was always able to figure out these sorts of things.

His tongue slipped out again, and he paused. When it slipped out next, it was forked.

Clothing disappeared, the staff clattered to the ground as limbs melded with his torso. A long hiss filled the air as the old man was replaced with a great snake.

"What happened?"

"Asclepius?"

"Their taint clings to you! It fades, unable to withstand the might of the Eye without support, but it is there! Who attempted to corrupted my queen so brazenly? I shall feed them to my hatchlings!"

"Asclepius! Calm down!"

What did he mean? She hadn't been anywhere They had been… as far as she knew. The Wild Gods still refused to elaborate, and what little information there was in the complex was muddled.

Blake had come to believe that Eonar hadn't been anywhere near done when she left. There were too many things missing.

Asclepius calmed down, shifting back into his humanoid form.

"Still, my lady, are you alright?"

Blake thought about it, before sighing.

"Can I ask your advice?"

"Always."

Blake had found that despite their first meeting, the Snake was better at thinking them fighting.

So Blake told him about her team leader.

-X Line Break X-

Mitnus stood before the Council of Six. They were setting off to Remnant after this, but the ceremony needed to be done.

If Rhonin showed up.

Nobody would fault him if he couldn't, but-

"I'm sorry I'm late."

The Archmage walked in, supported by his wife.

Mitnus didn't flinch, but it was a near thing. The scars from Theramore had not faded in the years since.

Truthfully, calling them scars was wrong. It looked like someone had turned part of Rhonin Redhair's skin to purple crystal.

Even his last name felt sarcastic, bleached white by the arcane energy that had been released that day.

Despite that, he stood tall, shrugging off Vereesa's support.

His one eye swiveled down, the other eternally staring ahead.

"Conjurer Mitnus Tinkfuse. Today, you leave us. You go to fight for another world, in defiance of all expectations. I have spoken to all your teachers, and they all have said the same thing. You were good, but not half as good as your brother."

Mitnus kept her face impassive, despite the sting.

"And then your brother left us. Turning to Fel, and you fell to the wayside."

The Archmage's voice boomed through the Kirin Tor's meeting chamber.

"You did not let this stop you. If you were not pleading for an apprenticeship to any mage who would listen, you were in the libraries, honing your skills on your own.

It shames me to admit that I, like so many others, let your brother's shadow taint my perception of you, and turned you away."

Mitnus felt Felo'melorn at her side, evidence of her accomplishments.

"So you turned to other means. Leaving Dalaran, you sailed to Ahn'Qiraj. It was there, more than the halls of the Violet Citadel, that you started your journey. There, on the field of battle, you proved yourself… and continued to do so over the years. You fought the Lich King, and Deathwing, and many other threats."

Mitnus heard Meryl tighten his grip on Ebonchill.

"That is why, with great pride, I name you as an Archmage of the Kirin Tor, and our arm in this new world. Go, prove that yourself again, learn new arts, and know that the might of Dalaran is ready to support you should you-"

The speech was cut off by a coughing fit, something red and purple splattered the floor.

Rhonin was in his mid forty, but his life was over. Everyone knew that. He was incapable of fighting, or doing anything that required exertion. All that was left was to watch his kids as Vereesa helped lead the Unseen Path.

The other members of the Council quickly dismissed the meeting.

Walking out, Mitnus met up with the rest of the expedition.

Her brother was leaning on a wall, the Scepter was leaning on his shoulder.

"Done?"

"Yes."

"Finally," pushing off the elder Tinkfuse grabbed the Scepter. The eye at the top glowed, Fel Runes manifested on the frozen air, manipulating the very fabric of reality.

Not for the first time, Mitnus worried about her brother's weapon. Finkmink had always been flighty, and it didn't seem like a good idea to let him have something that could literally unmake worlds.

With a mighty roar, the portal opened, giving way to the fallen Titan's artifact.

Radulf slipped through it with her, and Mitnus took her first look at a new world.

-X Line Break X-

Winter sighed as she sat on her airship. She should have gotten to Vale a month ago, but had been delayed in Atlas.

At some point Weiss had apparently had a fight with their father, and was refusing to speak to him. That had left Braun with no choice but to lean on her.

While Winter was glad her little sister was finally starting to realize how much of a monster their father was, she was worried that Weiss hadn't quite thought this through.

Winter had already started to rebel by the time Weiss had started her training, and Braun had planned around keeping Weiss from doing the same.

He had essentially crippled her sister's abilities, forcing her to rely on Dust for combat. If she ran out, she would have swiftly become close to useless.

Winter knew it, Klein knew it. That's why the manservant had Winter smuggle in a supply of Dust for Weiss, including some experimental Dust.

They both knew that Braun would almost assuredly blame it on a Faunus, and that nagged at the Atlesian specialist.

Her father was a psychopath, he had faked reports of their grandfather's insanity to convince enough people to sell their share to him so he could remove his father from the company. Winter had seen them.

The Atlesian military had let it slide, because Braun was far easier to manipulate than her grandfather had been. The CEO hadn't noticed that _they_ had gathered enough shares to out him if need be.

Why he had two kids, Winter didn't know, but she strongly suspected that it was so there was a backup if one suffered an 'accident'.

They let him stay in charge, despite public opinion of him dropping lower every day, because psychological reports pointed to Braun having a violent meltdown if he lost control.

Winter could believe it, she had seen his reaction when she slipped her leash.

The fact that one of the most dangerous men on Remnant was one bad day away from going on a rampage made Winter feel relieved that Weiss was a continent away.

The ship docked at Beacon, and Winter stepped off.

Her sister was waiting for her, and Winter stepped off, handing her the case of Dust.

"Hello, Weiss. How have you been?"

"Good."

"Come on, let's go to your room, ok?"

Nodding, Weiss guided her along.

-X Line Break X-

Nobundo ran his hand along the seam.

"You're sure you don't know what happened?"

Amber shook her head, the bob of hair flapping.

"No."

Nobundo murmured words in Kalimag, trying to see if anything resonated.

Nothing.

The Fist of Ra-den sat on his side, sparking with electricity.

The Elemental spirits had, paradoxically, gotten more quiet, and more urgent as time went on.

Shorter message, but they would come even when he was-

 **Silver hair** , _holding a crystalline rod_.  It crumbles, _**and her veins burn red.**_

It is done.

"Nobundo! Are you alright!? Help! He's hurt! Oh, no, they can't hear me."

"I'm fine, young one."

Pushing himself up, Nobundo gasped for breath.

What had that been? For a moment, just before the end of the vision, Nobundo had felt the elements emotions.

Resignation, and content.

"Uh, Nobundo?"

"Yes, Amber?"

The several millennia old shaman turned to her. She had a look of worry on her face.

"Do you think you're any closer to fixing whatever happened to me?"

"Not yet."

"Oh," worry flashed across Amber's face.

"We'll figure it out."

"It's not that, I just think… I think we have a time limit now."

"Did something happen?"

The Farseer looked at her, he had grown fond of the girl over the past month.

"Yes. While you were gone, Qrow came down with Ozpin, Ironwood and a girl."

"What happened?"

"They said… they said that they wanted to transfer my Aura to the girl."

Transfer her Aura? Transfer her soul?

"They said that there might be side effects. That I might overwrite her. Or vice versa."

Fear sparkled in Amber's eyes.

"They're willing to kill me. If my Aura get's absorbed into her, I'll die, I probably won't even be able to go to any afterlife there is, or do this. I don't want to die, Nobundo."

Nobundo rested a hand on Amber's head, a paternal move, one he had used to calm children, Broken and Draenei alike, over his long life.

"I won't let that happen. Even if I have to bring this Vault down around their heads. I won't let them take your soul."

Afterlives were a real thing. Whether they were condemned to wander the Shadowlands, feast in the Halls of Valor, stand guard over the Emerald Dream, bask in the Light, or fall screaming into the Void, all souls had a place.

Nobundo had seen what happened when souls were destroyed, the Legion did it, the Old Gods did it. Necromancy could be accepted, Nobundo often pulled spirits from beyond the grave to learn from them. But to destroy a soul, and either way, they would be destroying a soul, was an affront to the natural order. One that Nobundo could not, would not, sit by and allow to happen.

"Promise?"

"On my bond with the Elements," Nobundo swore.

The Fifth would accept nothing less. Death was a part of Life, even Undeath was a part of Life. But to use a soul? That was to violate Life.

That was to risk creating Fel. Not small amounts of Fel, like Ruby would resort to by burning her own soul, turning her destruction inwards before unleashing it outwards... But large, the kind that over enough time, with enough repetition, turned the performer into a demon.

It was why Nobundo hated to work with Warlocks, or Demon Hunters. They were monsters, violating the careful balance of the five.

Nobundo would do anything to keep them from going the same way as the Eredar, even if it meant killing them.

Or, if that didn't work, killing Amber himself.

-X Line Break X-

Weiss opened the case, taking in all the vials of Dust.

"This should be enough to keep you going for another month."

"Only a month?"

That wouldn't be long. Despite Ruby's insistence, Weiss was aware that she would be nearly dead in the water without Dust. It shouldn't have been that hard to beat Sage.

Winter looked guilty, "Not quite, take out the felt."

Weiss followed her sister's instructions, finding another crystal hidden beneath it.

"What's this?"

"It's an experimental Dust."

"What does it do?"

Weiss gently removed the rod, it was larger than most Dust crystals. It changed colors as Weiss looked at it, a kaleidoscopic effect.

"It… it creates more Dust."

Weiss looked at her sister in shock, "What!?"

"It creates more Dust."

"I hadn't heard anything about this!"

"That's because Father was keeping it a secret."

"Why?"

"Because he doesn't know how to replicate it."

"He doesn't?"

"No. The scientist who created it made it in the middle of some sort of trance, and when he finished it, didn't remember. The camera in that room had also been wiped clean somehow."

"Why give it to me?"

"Because Father can not be trusted with it, and this is the last place he would look."

"The last place he would look, really? And why can't he be trusted?"

"Yes, really. He thinks you've only gotten out from under his thumb for a second. As for why he can't be trusted? Father would use this to drive every other Dust company out of business."

Weiss looked at the rod, feeling something resonate in her.

 _Oh, did that finally get here? About time,_ a yawn, I _c_ ouldn't do anything until it did.

What-?

The crystal disintegrated in her hand, and the Dust latched on to her.

Let me be blunt. This? This is going to suck. Whatever you thought you knew about pain, this is going to be a lot worse. And yes I am aware that is something no one wants to hear. So here's the deal, Weiss felt something, like a jolt of electricity,That was me syncing up with your nervous system. We're going to go through this together. Truth is, I'm not very happy about this. Despite what Elune thinks, people aren't pieces on a chessboard. I'd outright refuse, but they'd probably just obliterate me and shave off a chunk that will. Ready? Who am I kidding, of course you aren't. 3, 2, 1. Congratulations on your new job.

The Dust seemed to burrow under her skin, and everything was calm.

What? OH DUST WHY!?

It was like the skin had been shoved into a blast furnace, getting hotter and hotter, while remaining unblemished.

"Winter?"

The combat specialist ditched all sense of decorum, grabbing Weiss's other hand.

"What's wrong?"

"It burns."

Yeah it does, worst part? This is the easy bit. You're about to see some scary things happen to your body, I promise they're only temporary.

"Winter, there's a voice."

"Where?"

"In my head, it says, it says it's going to get worse."

"Don't pay attention to it, ok, I'm right here. Everything is going to be-" Winter cut herself off with a shriek, lightning jumping along the hand she had been holding.

That's when everything went to hell.

Weiss curled inward as the burning spread through her body. It was like someone had replaced her blood with magma.

Crystalline growths sprouted from her body, spitting fire, lightning, gusts of wind, or cooling water.

A set of stone spikes grew along her arm.

Looking down, Weiss could see the glow in her veins, clawing at them, desperately trying to get it out, Weiss found paydirt in the worst possible way.

What streamed out her body _was_ magma.

"WINTER!"

"I'm right here. I'm right here, Weiss, it's going to be ok."

As touching as that is, I would like to point out that you don't need to be awake for this, and if you just passed out already, it would be a lot easier for both of us!

Weiss swiftly followed that advice.

-X Line Break X-

 _Darion looked up at Acherus, wondering how they were supposed to get their horses up there._

" _Darion! Over here, Salanar will pick them up for us!"_

 _Sliding off Iydallus, Darion walked to the portal that opened._

 _Stepping through it, Darion found himself on a balcony of the citadel. Looking over the Scarlet Enclave were the Lich King and Ruby, dressed in full armor._

 _Ruby's head sat on the king's shoulder, apparently unfazed by the metal there, or the helm on her head._

" _My King, we have returned," the words came from Orbaz._

 _Ruby's head rose slowly, before the turned to face them. The stylized metal of Ruby helm leered at them._

" _Orbaz, Thassarian, Koltira. We must speak with you. You four, rest for now, you have done well today."_

 _Walking away from the Quintet, Darion headed down into the main room of Acherus._

 _In between each Runeforge sat piles of bodies, occasionally one would be dragged down and brought before the man watching the training pit._

 _He would perform a thorough examination of each body, and it would then be dragged to the Necromancers._

 _In the pit, two recruits were fighting. Blood and frost were thrown around._

 _One staggered, taking a blow to the chest that cut through his robe. This was followed by being literally disarmed._

 _Looking up at the man, the man nodded. A swift nod, and then recruit severed his foes head._

 _The man looked at Darion, examining him._

" _Into the pit recruit."_

" _I was told to rest."_

 _The man let out a cruel laugh, "Recruits don't rest, survive to be a Death Knight, and you might be able to rest. Now into the pit, before I make you."_

 _Realizing that there was no point in arguing, Darion jumped into the pit._

 _There was no official start to the match, the recruit charged at Darion the minute he landed._

 _Dodging the blow, Darion kicked his opponent in the stomach._

 _Unlike a member of the living, it didn't effect him._

 _Growling, Darion dodged the sword, ducking and knocking the feet out from under the other fighter._

 _Grabbing Ashbringer, Darion burned a rune to strengthen his body for a second._

 _Necrotic energy burned in his veins, and Darion brought the executioner's sword down._

 _The other man rolled out of the way, but lost his arm. The severed limb burned away as Darion tore his sword from the ground._

 _The other man took a defensive stance, even as the rush left Darion, and he was forced to take two hands to the hilt._

 _Darion stepped forward, swinging the once holy blade._

 _The Runeblade lashed out, striking Darion's hand. Training from his father and Ruby came back to him, and he refused to let go._

 _The next swing saw Ashbringer strike the nameless blade, shattering it._

 _Not even bothering to check, Darion rammed Ashbringer through the recruits chest, kicking him from it as he burned._

 _Heavy boot fall came, and Darion turned._

 _Standing above him was the Lich King and Ruby. Orbaz, Koltira and Thassarian followed behind them, as did Gayle, Velann, Malag, and Totua. The elder three held each something in hand._

 _Stepping out of the pit, he looked at them._

" _You five. Line up," the five trainees did so, "Kneel."_

 _Lowering himself to one knee, Darion bowed his head, his companions doing the same._

" _Today, these five have returned from a task I sent them on. Four of them have proven themselves. But another failed to. Deathlord?"_

 _The was a clatter of metal, and something heavy fell to the ground. Darion could see petals fall when Ruby had been._

" _Totua Suncaller trailed behind. She did not go looking for the slaughter. This is the price of her failure. Learn from it."_

 _Darion heard the Lich King step forward, and saw his shadow fall over him._

" _Darion Mograine, however, used a brilliant strategy to cripple the town. He personally led the fight into the keep. Let it never be said I do not reward those who serve me well."_

 _Something slid over Darion's head, weighing on it._

 _His left hand was raised and the gauntlet was removed, something was slid onto the pinkie finger._

" _The Deathlord shall return to Avernus once Tyr's hand and Light's Hope Chapel falls. I shall return to Icecrown Citadel, Kel'thuzad and Razuvious shall return to Naxxramas. The experienced Death Knights shall be sent to assist retaking the land we lost in Kalimdor."_

 _A heavy cloak was thrown over his shoulders._

" _Acherus has no leader, but that changes today. From this day on, you shall be known as Highlord Darion Mograine, leader of the Knights of Acherus. You shall lead our efforts on the Eastern Kingdoms. Rise, Highlord."_

 _Darion stood, standing before his king._

" _You shall have one last set of lessons, on how to lead. We shall assist you in forming your strategies while we finish the Scarlet Crusade, Argent Dawn, and Order of the Silver Hand. Then you shall lead our forces to Lordaeron city, seize my rightful throne from the traitor, Sylvanas, and march south to meet up with Avernus. Do not fail me Highlord."_

 _Turning to the gathered forces, his voice boomed out, "Bow before your Highlord!"_

 _All around the chamber, men and women fell to a knee, bowing. By the time it was done, the number of people standing were capable of being counted on both hands._

 _Razuvious, Ruby, Thassarian, Koltira, Orbaz, Thorval, the Lich King. All who outranked him now._

" _Deathlord, with me. We have much to discuss."_

" _Of course, my king."_

 _As Ruby turned, she stopped. Pulling a dagger from her hip, she handed it to Velann._

" _Let it never be said, I don't keep my promises. You did well."_

 _Turning Ruby disappeared after the Lich King._

 _Standing tall, Darion looked over his knights._

" _Razuvious, would you put them through the paces, I would like nothing more than the best."_

 _A savage grin spread on the instructor's face._

" _As you wish, Highlord. You three! In the pit!"_

 _-X Line Break X-_

 _Rhonin sighed, looking over Dalaran from his quarters in the Violet Citadel._

 _The repairs had gone well over the years. Dalaran had almost completely recovered from the damage Archimonde had inflicted upon it._

 _Giramar and Galadin were running around the living room, and Vereesa was out hunting._

 _He hated this. He was a combat mage, he wasn't a damn politician._

 _His staff sat on the desk, alongside pages of work._

 _Black Dragons running around unchecked, Old Gods rising up, Fire Elementals raging, and Arthas was getting even more active than normal._

 _He should be out there helping. Not sitting here-_

" _DADDY!"_

 _Turning, Rhonin stared as Galadin ran in, fear clear on his face. Crouching down to his son's level, Rhonin looked at him._

" _What's wrong?"_

" _A elf broke in, they grabbed Gir, and are hurting him!"_

 _Rising up, Rhonin raised a hand. The staff snapped to his hand as the Archmage marched through the door._

 _Sure enough, a Blood Elf was standing there with his son. A sickly green aura was draining from Giramar into the elf._

" _What. Are you doing to my son?" The veteran of the War of the Ancients growled out, flames gathering at the end of his staff._

 _The elf looked up, startled, before being blast away from the Windrunner._

 _Marching forward, Rhonin calmly deflected several bolts of Fel fire. Flames burned on the corner of his eyes, creating a Corona of power._

 _Blast after blast of fire rained down, forcing the elf back further._

" _Who are you? What do you want with my son?"_

" _The child of a High Elf and an Archmage would give enough power to keep me going for a long time."_

 _So he was one of the Elves who were too far gone. The power of the Sunwell wasn't enough for them, they required Fel._

 _And he had chosen to drain it from Rhonin's son._

 _Calculations ran through his head, gathering arcane energy to assault the world._

 _Weaving each strike together in a grand conflagration of fire, the red haired mage forced the elf onto the balcony._

 _Ramming his staff into the ground, Rhonin released a shockwave from it, breaking the ledge off._

 _The elf teleported, and Rhonin turned as Galadin cried out._

 _The half elf's arm was in the full blooded ones hand, the five year old easily stopped by the older man._

 _The Elf's eyes started to glow with power, only to abruptly stop as an arrow pierced his shoulder._

 _Letting go of Galadin for a second, the boy ran to hide behind his mother._

 _The youngest Windrunner sister had stepped into the room. Another arrow was nocked._

" _Zendarin, what are you doing?"_

" _Vereesa, you know him?"_

" _He's my cousin. Why were you fighting?"_

" _He was trying to drain Giramar."_

 _Vereesa turned to glare at Zendarin, "Explain."_

" _Why don't you explain why you married a Human," the Fel addled Blood Elf spat Rhonin's race like a curse, "They're little better than animals."_

 _Another arrow struck him, and he cried out._

" _You are not allowed to criticize me for who I love. What about Alleria? She has a half elf son."_

" _He's an adult, or I would have gone for him," Zendarin cried out in pain as Rhonin unleashed a wave of force, pushing him back._

 _Gasping for breath, the Blood Elf's eyes glowed again._

" _I will be back for them."_

 _Then he was gone._

 _Rhonin reached down, picking Giramar up and carrying him over to the couch as Vereesa comforted Galadin._

 _Checking him over, Rhonin sighed in relief. He had gotten there quick enough. Giramar would be okay after a night's sleep._

 _Leaning against the table, Rhonin started to plan wards around the room to keep Zendarin out._


End file.
